June 04,2024

Wyden Statement on Tax Court and Treasury Inspector General Nominations

As Prepared for Delivery

The Finance Committee meets this morning to discuss four nominations. James Ives is nominated to serve as inspector general of the Department of the Treasury. And Rose Jenkins, Adam Landy, and Kashi Way are all nominated to serve as judges of the United States Tax Court.

I’ll begin with the Treasury I-G. Inspectors General perform an essential oversight role across the government. At the Treasury, it oversees a department with a budget of billions of dollars and immense influence over the U.S. and global economy. It does important work rooting out waste, fraud and abuse.

There has not been a confirmed Treasury inspector general for nearly five years. It’s critical that the next I-G is undaunted by political pressure and unafraid to confront big issues, even when it’s unpopular. I’m a firm believer that tough oversight results in good government.

James Ives brings oversight experience from all over the federal government to his nomination.

He currently serves as the Principal Deputy Director of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, which is the criminal investigative arm of the Department of Defense’s Office of Inspector General. He’s also served within the I-G offices at NASA and the Government Publishing Office.

He was also a special agent with the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service and a reserve special agent with the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service.

All in all, he has more than three decades of experience in oversight and law enforcement, which will be highly valuable in the top job as Treasury I-G.

Next up, the three nominees for the tax court. The U.S. Tax Court is the judicial backbone of the federal tax code. It’s the best opportunity Americans have to dispute tax bills before they have to pay. And it keeps them from getting stuck in slow-moving courts when they have a tax issue that needs resolution.

So this committee is thankful to have three nominees willing to take on this important job -- all of whom bring a blend of public and private experience to their nominations.

Rose Jenkins brings 15 years of experience in tax law to her nomination, with particular expertise in international tax law and administrative issues. She is currently an attorney in the Office of Associate Chief Counsel for procedure and administration. It’s her second go-round with the IRS Chief Counsel, as she previously served in the international office as well. She has valuable experience in the private sector and at NYU’s Tax Law Center.

Adam Landy has been a Special Trial Judge on the Tax Court since 2021. He too has several years of experience at the Office of the IRS Chief Counsel, serving in Baltimore and San Francisco, as well as in the private sector.

And finally, Kashi Way is a senior legislation counsel with the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation. At the joint committee, Mr. Way’s primary focus is on energy tax issues and R&D, but his background covers a lot more.

In 18 years at JCT, he’s had big impact on such landmark bills as the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, and the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.

I speak for this entire committee when I say that we are big fans of the staff over at JCT. We would not be able to do our jobs without their expertise and professionalism, and they rarely get the recognition they deserve. Mr. Way will make an excellent Tax Court judge, but this committee will be sorry to lose his counsel here on Capitol Hill.

I want to congratulate all four nominees and thank them for joining the committee this morning. I look forward to our discussion.

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