9 Aug 2025

Trump fires IRS commissioner, Bessent named acting head

8:11 am on 9 August 2025
WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 20: Former Rep. Billy Long (R-MO), U.S. President Donald Trump's nominee to be Internal Revenue Service Commissioner, appears during a Senate Finance Committee nomination hearing on Capitol Hill on May 20, 2025 in Washington, DC. The IRS has had four acting commissioners since U.S. President Donald Trump took office in January.   Andrew Harnik/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by Andrew Harnik / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

Billy Long. Photo: ANDREW HARNIK / AFP

US President Donald Trump is removing Billy Long as the commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will temporarily serve as acting commissioner, a White House official and a source familiar with the matter said on Friday (US time).

The New York Times, which first reported the news, said Long, a former congressman from Missouri, was expected to be nominated for an ambassador post, but did not name the country.

"Secretary Bessent will now serve as acting commissioner of the IRS," the White House official said.

A Treasury spokesperson declined to comment.

Long was sworn in as the 51st Commissioner of the IRS in June, with his term meant to run through November 2027.

- Reuters

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