Former Missouri congressman Billy Long will be ceremonially sworn in as commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service on Friday, taking over an agency that has experienced staffing cuts and leadership turnover. He previously sponsored legislation to abolish the IRS.
Long won confirmation in a 53-44 Senate vote last month despite concerns from Democrats about his connection to a tax credit scheme and campaign contributions he received after then President-elect Donald Trump nominated him for the top IRS job in December.
Long’s commissionership comes after months of acting leaders and massive staffing cuts that have threatened to derail next year’s tax filing season. Tens of thousands of workers have voluntarily retired or been laid off as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to shrink the size of the federal bureaucracy through the Department of Government Efficiency.
“In my first 90 days I plan to ask you, my employee partners, to help me develop a new culture here,” Long wrote in a message to IRS employees. “I’m big on culture, and I’m anxious to develop one that makes your lives and the taxpayers’ lives better.”
While serving in Congress from 2011 to 2023, the Republican sponsored legislation to eliminate the IRS. A former auctioneer and real estate broker, Long does not have a background in tax administration. He also hosted a radio talk show from 1999 to 2006, where the IRS was frequently discussed, according to his biography on the agency’s website.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told Fox News in February that Trump’s “goal is to abolish the Internal Revenue Service and let all the outsiders pay,” referring to tariffs imposed on other countries. The president has also floated the idea of getting rid of the federal income tax and using tariffs to make up the difference.
The nearly 900-page tax and spending bill Trump signed earlier this month contains about $4.5 trillion in tax cuts. They include new tax deductions on tips, overtime and auto loans, as well as scores of business-related cuts.
Long has aligned with Trump’s positions for years. In 2022, during an unsuccessful campaign for the U.S. Senate in Missouri, he released a 30-second ad stating that the 2020 election was “rigged” and “stolen” from Trump — claims that the former president has frequently made.
During his Senate bid, Long worked with a firm that distributed fraudulent, pandemic-era employee retention tax credits. He appeared before the Senate Finance Committee in May and denied any wrongdoing related to his involvement in the scheme.
Democrats have called for a criminal investigation into Long’s connections to other alleged tax loopholes. They have also written to Long and his associated firms detailing concerns with what they call unusually timed contributions made to Long’s defunct 2022 Senate campaign committee shortly after Trump nominated him.
Long is not the only Trump appointee to support dismantling an agency he was assigned to manage.
Linda McMahon, the current education secretary, has repeatedly said she is trying to put herself out of a job by closing the federal department and transferring its work to the states.
FBI Director Kash Patel has proposed overhauls to the 117-year-old agency. And Rick Perry, Trump’s energy secretary during his first term, called for abolishing the Energy Department during his bid for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination.