Billy Long Out As IRS Commissioner Just Weeks After He Was Sworn In

Less than two months after he was sworn in, Billy Long is now out as IRS Commissioner. The move, which was reported first by The New York Times, has been confirmed by the White House.

Revolving Doors

President Donald Trump announced Long’s nomination in December of 2024, even though Danny Werfel was then serving a term as IRS Commissioner that would normally have run until late in 2027. Long was sworn in on June 16, 2025.

Werfel subsequently announced his resignation, effective January 20, 2025. Since Long had not yet been confirmed at that time, Werfel was replaced by Doug O’Donnell, who served as Acting Commissioner following Werfel’s departure. O’Donnell left his position on February 28, 2025, and was replaced by then IRS Chief Operating Officer Melanie Krause. Krause announced her departure in April 2025, following the tax agency’s agreement to share immigrant tax data with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Gary Shapley served as Acting Commissioner for just two days after Krause’s departure before being replaced by Michael Faulkender on April 18, 2025—he was in that position until Long stepped in.

Counting the procession of acting IRS heads, Long was the sixth person to run the IRS since the beginning of the year. He will be replaced by Scott Bessent, who will serve as Acting Commissioner at the same time he serves as the Secretary of the Treasury.

It’s not just those at the top who are exiting the agency. The IRS workforce dropped from 103,000 employees in January 2025 to approximately 77,000 in May 2025 (a 25% reduction). Those numbers, which have been previously reported, have now been confirmed by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA).

The departures of leadership and the general workforce come just as the IRS is gearing up for next year’s tax season. The IRS has also announced that, despite new tax breaks for tipped and overtime income that take effect, retroactively for all of 2025, there will be no changes to withholding tables for 2025 or changes to certain information returns, including Form W-2, Forms 1099, Form 941 and other payroll return forms for 2025. According to the IRS, these moves are “intended to avoid disruptions during the tax filing season and to give the IRS, business and tax professionals enough time to implement the changes effectively.”

About Billy Long

Long was considered an unusual (and controversial—keep reading) choice for the position. He does not have any formal training in tax, law, or accounting, does not have a college degree, and never served in Congress on a tax writing committee. He dropped out of the University of Missouri before returning to school—this time, to an auction training program at the Missouri Auction School. He was told, he explained to Auctioneer Magazine, that it was the “Harvard of auctioneering schools.” There, he earned his Certified Auctioneer designation. Once he made the career switch to auctioneering, Long says he averaged about 200 auctions per year for 20 years. Today, he is in the National Auction Association Hall of Fame.

Before heading to D.C., Long was also a real estate broker and a radio talk show host.

Long served as a U.S. representative for Missouri’s 7th Congressional district from 2011 to 2023. He subsequently ran for the U.S. Senate in 2022 but lost in the Republican primary.

While in the House, Long served on the Committee on Energy and Commerce, the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, the Committee on Homeland Security, and the Republican Steering Committee. He did not serve on any tax or finance committees. However, he was awarded the “Tax Fighter Award” by the National Tax Limitation Committee (the organization appears to no longer exist—its former website now points to a Thai gambling site).

In 2011, Long sponsored the Tax Code Termination Act, which sought to eliminate the tax code and replace it with a flat tax (the amount and terms are not laid out in the bill, but would not have eliminated payroll taxes)—the bill was officially introduced with the title “To terminate the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.”

In 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2017, Long co-sponsored bills to repeal the income tax and other taxes, abolish the IRS, and enact a national sales tax to be administered primarily by the states. That theme largely repeated itself in 2023, when Long co-sponsored legislation that would have replaced most federal taxes, including payroll and estate taxes, with a 30% tax on the cost of the goods or services purchased (a consumption tax)—the legislation would have also eliminated the IRS.

Separately, Long also co-sponsored legislation to repeal the estate tax on dozens of occasions.

Despite those earlier moves, Long told the Senate Finance Committee in May of 2025, “My unique life experience has shaped my understanding of how the government operates and the importance of fairness and integrity. I intend to use these experiences to bring transformational change to the IRS.”

Contentious Confirmation

Long was confirmed, 53-44, along party lines, with all Republicans in the Senate voting yes—all of the no votes came from Democrats. During his confirmation hearing, Democrats raised concerns about his ties to companies that promoted controversial tax credits, including a nonexistent “tribal tax credit” and the employee retention tax credit (ERC). The ERC has been widely abused and the tax bill Trump signed on July 4th disallowed any pending claims for the credit filed after January 31, 2024 and raised the penalties for promoters of the credit.

Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), the Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, pulled no punches at Long’s May 20 confirmation hearing, saying, “Congressman Long’s experience with tax issues came after he left Congress, when he dove headlong into the tax scam industry.” Democrats also expressed concern that Long might allow political interference from the White House at the tax agency, an issue that has been in the spotlight more since Trump threatened to revoke Harvard University’s tax-exempt status. Long has reposted social media posts critical of Harvard, Columbia, and other tax-exempt organizations.

When questioned about the issue by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Long initially suggested that he would seek legal advice to determine whether it would be appropriate for the president to direct the IRS to conduct an investigation or audit. Long replied, “I’m gonna follow the law, and if that’s the law, yes.” Warren confirmed that it was the law, reading aloud part of the statute (Section 7217), which she had sent to him in advance.

Early Controversy

Long, who had been touring the U.S. to meet IRS employees, raised eyebrows last month when he suggested that the tax season would be late to open in 2026. He told a crowd at the 2025 Tax Summit of the National Association of Enrolled Agents (NAEA) in Salt Lake City, that the 2026 filing season should start around Presidents Day (February 16). Long explained that he wanted to open the season earlier, but said that the agency needed more time.

The IRS quickly walked that back, issuing a statement to the NAEA that, “IRS Commissioner Billy Long is in his second week of a ‘boots on the ground’ tour of IRS facilities with visits last week in Georgia and this week in Utah. Billy cares about two groups of people: his employee-partners and taxpayers. He is gathering information on what enhancements can be made to provide an exceptional taxpayer experience for the American people. The IRS looks forward to another successful tax filing season next year, and we will announce the timing of its opening in the regular course.”

Next Steps

Long is expected to be nominated for an ambassadorship.

In a statement, a Treasury spokesperson confirmed the departure, saying, “Treasury thanks Commissioner Long for his commitment to public service and the American people. His zeal and enthusiasm to bring a fresh perspective to the Federal Government was evident in both the House of Representatives and as part of the Trump Administration. A new candidate for Commissioner will be announced at the appropriate time.”

The IRS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Reactions

Wyden issued a statement about Long’s departure, saying, “From the minute Trump announced Billy Long as his IRS pick it was obvious this would end badly, but every Senate Republican voted to confirm his nomination anyway. He didn’t even last two months on the job. Let’s not forget that there wasn’t a vacancy at the time Trump announced Long’s nomination. Danny Werfel, a skilled leader with fans among Democrats and Republicans, had years left on his term.”

Wyden added, “Billy Long left Congress a few years ago and went straight into the tax fraud industry, his only real experience in tax before his nomination. My investigators have obtained alarming information pertaining to Long’s conduct at the IRS that we have begun to investigate, and that process will continue regardless of whether Trump stashes Long away in some foreign embassy.”

(Author’s Note: Updated to add comments from Wyden and the Treasury.)