Biden to Nominate Werfel to Lead IRS

President Biden today announced he will nominate Daniel Werfel to serve as the next commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Werfel, who currently works at the Boston Consulting Group, has a long history of government service in the George W. Bush and Obama administrations and served as acting IRS commissioner in 2013, taking over after top agency officials resigned over a controversy involving the scrutiny of conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.

Current IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig is leaving when his term expires on Saturday. He was nominated by President Trump in 2018.

Werfel’s Senate confirmation hearings will likely include questioning from Senate Republicans about the $80 billion funding increase the agency received earlier this year in the Inflation Reduction Act to ramp up tax enforcement, among other priorities. Republicans are close to securing a majority in the U.S. House after Tuesday’s elections, and House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), who is jockeying for speaker of the House, has said the first bill Republicans would advance in the House next year would repeal funding for hiring more Internal Revenue Service (IRS) employees.