Gary Shapley was tapped to become the next acting commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service. It comes after the resignation of Melanie Krause, the outgoing acting commissioner who resigned following the agency agreed to share illegal alien taxpayer information with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Shapley, along with Joe Zeigler, were the two IRS agents who testified before Congress about how the Biden Justice Department interfered incessantly into their investigations into Hunter Biden.
Well, it looks like the search for an acting commissioner begins anew as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent torpedoed Shapley’s confirmation, noting that he was never informed of this appointment. It’s typical Washington jockeying and palace intrigue (via NYT):
The acting commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service is being replaced after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent complained to President Trump that the latest leader of the agency had been installed without his knowledge and at the behest of billionaire Elon Musk, according to five people with knowledge of the change and the sensitive discussions that precipitated it.
Mr. Bessent believed that Mr. Musk had done an end run around him to get Gary Shapley installed as the interim head of the I.R.S., even though the tax collection agency reports to Mr. Bessent. Mr. Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency pushed the appointment through White House channels, but Mr. Bessent was not consulted or asked for his blessing, the people said. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private conversations.
Mr. Bessent got Mr. Trump’s approval to unwind the decision. The next acting head of the I.R.S., which has seen a conveyor belt of temporary leaders under Mr. Trump, is expected to be the deputy secretary of the Treasury, Michael Faulkender. He would hold the role until the president’s nominee for the permanent role, former congressman Billy Long, if approved by the Senate, takes over.
Mr. Shapley, a longtime I.R.S. agent, was lauded by conservatives after he publicly argued that the Justice Department had slow-walked its investigation into Hunter Biden’s taxes.
[…]
The I.R.S. declined to comment.
The clash was the latest instance of Mr. Musk’s influence in the Trump administration alarming top officials, and has deepened the turmoil that has engulfed the I.R.S. The agency has been under pressure from Mr. Trump to revoke Harvard University’s tax-exempt status, an attempt to politicize the agency that has deeply troubled current and former officials.
Nothing to get overly-excited about, and, of course, the ‘Musk is Darth Vader’ vibes are going to be emanating about this story.
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