IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel Stepping Down Before Trump Inauguration 👉 Updatem News

‘The best way to support a successful transition is to depart the IRS on Jan. 20,’ he says.

The head of the IRS said he is stepping down just before President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration.

“After significant introspection and consultation with others, I’ve determined the best way to support a successful transition is to depart the IRS on January 20, 2025,” IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel said in a note addressed to all IRS employees on Friday.

Trump is scheduled to be inaugurated at 12 p.m. ET on Monday, Jan. 20, meaning Werfel will step down before then.

“While leaving a job you love is never easy, I take comfort in knowing that the civil servant leaders and employees at the IRS are the exact right team to effectively steward this organization forward until a new IRS Commissioner is confirmed,” Werfel said.

Werfel’s term began in March 2023 and was not slated to end until November 2027. Trump had indicated last year that he would nominate former Rep. Billy Long (R-Mo.) to serve as his IRS commissioner, which would require Senate confirmation.

In his note to employees, Werfel indicated that he wanted to complete his “full term as commissioner” but noted that “the President-elect has announced his plan to nominate a new IRS Commissioner.”

“I have been touched by those who have reached out to me to share how they were hopeful that I could remain in the seat and continue the important work underway,” he wrote. “But as civil servants, we have a job to do, and that job is to now ensure a new Commissioner is set up for success.”

Werfel warned earlier this year that the IRS should not lose Congress-approved funding or it will have to reduce staffing levels that he says have improved tax service and reduced processing times. Under the Inflation Reduction Act, the IRS received about $80 billion over 10 years, although some of that money was clawed back in subsequent bills.

“And so if we don’t have the right staffing levels, the performance will backslide, and we will see inevitably slower processing delays and potential backlogs,” Werfel told reporters during a news conference on Jan. 10.

In recent years, the IRS has faced criticism from Republicans for the agency’s decision to hire close to 87,000 new employees while accusing the tax revenue service of targeting the middle class and small businesses. Some House Republicans as well as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, in his 2024 presidential bid, had argued that the IRS should be abolished entirely.

Trump has not publicly commented on Werfel’s announcement. When he announced his choice of Long, a former auctioneer and a tax consultant, to lead the tax collection agency, Trump said he is “respected by all.”

“I have known Billy since 2011—He is an extremely hard worker, and respected by all, especially by those who know him in Congress,” Trump wrote in early December 2024. “Taxpayers and the wonderful employees of the IRS will love having Billy at the helm.”

The IRS is scheduled to launch this year’s tax filing season on Jan. 27, 2025.

Earlier this week, Trump announced he would set up an “External Revenue Service” that would collect tariff income and other revenue from foreign nations. He compared the move to the creation of the IRS.

“We will begin charging those that make money off of us with Trade, and they will start paying,” Trump wrote on Tuesday on his social media platform, Truth Social.

Trump has said he may impose significant tariffs on goods from certain nations, including Mexico and Canada, if they do not counter the flow of illegal immigration and fentanyl trafficking into the United States. He also said he would add an additional tariff against China for not curbing the production of fentanyl and its precursor chemicals.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

Original News Source Link – Epoch Times

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