December 04,2024

Wyden Statement on Trump Nominating Billy Long for IRS Commissioner

Washington, D.C. — Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today issued the following statement on Donald Trump’s announcement that he would nominate former Congressman Billy Long to lead the IRS:

“Let’s understand why this nomination ought to set off alarm bells. This is not a typical nomination like you’d see after every presidential election. Danny Werfel was confirmed by the Senate to serve as IRS Commissioner until November 2027, and even Trump’s IRS Commissioner, Charles Rettig, served a full term. Since Mr. Werfel has been on the job, the IRS has vastly improved taxpayer service, set up a tremendous direct-file system, and begun badly-needed crackdowns on ultra-wealthy tax cheats who rip off law-abiding Americans. If Trump fires Mr. Werfel, it won’t be to improve on his work; it’ll be to install somebody Trump can control as he meddles with the IRS. It’s public knowledge that Trump sought to sic the IRS on people he saw as political enemies during his first term. There is no reason to believe he’ll behave any differently in his second.

“There are a lot of reasons why former Congressman Billy Long is a bizarre choice for this role. What’s most concerning is that Mr. Long left office and jumped into the scam-plagued industry involving the Employee Retention Tax Credit. These ERTC mills that have popped up over the last few years are essentially fraud on an industrial scale, conning small businesses and ripping off American taxpayers to the tune of billions of dollars. I’m going to have a lot of questions about Mr. Long’s role in this business, first and foremost why the American people ought to trust somebody involved with a fraud-ridden industry to run an agency that’s tasked with rooting out fraud.” 

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