Was Billy Long removed from his post as IRS commissioner last week for refusing to allow the Trump administration to improperly mine private tax data in search of undocumented immigrants?
That’s the most generous theory about the sudden ouster last Friday of the former Missouri congressman, just hours after his agency declined to cooperate with a Department of Homeland Security request for private tax information — a request that raises questions about potential abuse of private information that goes far beyond the immigration issue.
Neither Long nor the Trump administration is confirming that Long’s sudden removal after just two months as the head of the IRS was in response to his agency’s refusal to cooperate on the private records. The fact that Long is now in line for an ambassadorship would seem to call into question whether his removal was a punishment — until you consider that the ambassadorship is in Iceland.
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Whatever was behind Long’s removal, the administration is crossing into dangerous new territory in trying to pry open private tax records in its zeal to track down illegal immigrants. The move had earlier prompted warnings from staff attorneys about its questionable legality and some protest resignations. Whatever the stated reasons for Long’s ouster, it seems likely his successor as head of IRS will be inclined to be more cooperative.
Contrary to the MAGA stereotype of lazy criminals who contribute nothing to U.S. society, undocumented migrants pay tens of billions of dollars in taxes annually. The IRS even has a specific classification of identification numbers that such migrants can use in place of a Social Security number while filing their taxes. That’s because it’s routine for undocumented immigrants to be in the process of working toward getting legal, with payment of taxes as part of that process.
As reported last week, DHS has been using those numbers to track the identities and addresses of undocumented migrants. While the IRS has cooperated to some extent, Long’s agency balked at a specific request last week to provide not just identifying information but specific tax data on those filers. His office cited tax privacy rights in refusing the request.
It was just hours after the IRS and DHS clashed over those records that Long was summarily removed from his position on Friday, the Post reported.
With less than eight weeks on the job, Long becomes the shortest-serving IRS commissioner in the agency’s 163-year history.
Long said Friday that President Donald Trump would nominate him as U.S. ambassador to Iceland. A White House spokesperson bluntly denied Long’s removal had anything to do with conflicts over policy. But the timing is difficult to dismiss.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will serve as interim IRS commissioner for now, the White House said. It will be interesting to see whether Bessent or whomever takes over permanently at the IRS turns around and supplies the disputed private information to DHS.
Long’s appointment as IRS commissioner was a strange choice to begin with. Like so many of Trump’s various appointees, the former auctioneer was utterly unqualified for the job, with no accounting training or background other than his involvement in a scammy shadow industry that sells what have been called “boondoggle†tax credits.
But if Long indeed did finally decide there was a line he couldn’t ethically cross at the behest of this uniquely unethical administration, that qualifies as some small form of redemption.
