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Federal Tax

Werfel Resigns as Trump Takes Office

Maureen Leddy  

· 5 minute read

Maureen Leddy  

· 5 minute read

IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel announced on Friday that he would leave the agency before the end of his term, ahead of President Donald Trump’s January 20 inauguration.

Werfel was selected by former President Joe Biden for the commissioner role and was sworn in March 13, 2023. His term was set to end in November 2027.

However, Trump announced in early December that he would nominate Billy Long, a former congressman from Missouri, to replace Werfel.

The pick came as a surprise — IRS commissioners are appointed to five-year terms and typically serve beyond the nominating president’s term. Prior Commissioner Charles Rettig, for example, was selected by Trump during his first presidential term, but served until late-2022, well into President Biden’s term.

IRS media accounts on X and Facebook posted farewell messages to Werfel on Friday, thanking him for his service.

Some lawmakers also praised Werfel, including Senate Finance Ranking member Ron Wyden (D-OR). Werfel, “oversaw historic improvements in taxpayer service, and he will leave the IRS in much better shape than he found it,” said Wyden. “America’s taxpayers are better off today, and millions of them have saved money filing their taxes,” Wyden added.

The day after Trump announced Long’s nomination, Werfel spoke on a University of Texas Austin Taxation Conference panel with former IRS Commissioner Larry Gibbs — a Republican appointee. Gibbs also spoke highly of Werfel, calling him “the right person at the right time” to make use of the $80 billion infusion of funds to the IRS under the Inflation Reduction Act. Gibbs described Werfel as “a professional” and “someone who gets up every day to say, ‘How can I do it better?'”

Before coming to the IRS, Werfel was at Boston Consulting Group’s Public Sector, where he worked with government agencies around the globe on finance, service delivery, transformation plans, and risk-assessment initiatives. Werfel also served as acting IRS commissioner from May to December 2013.

 

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