Billy Long Out As Irs Commissioner

President Donald Trump is removing Billy Long as head of the Internal Revenue Service.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will serve at the agency’s acting commissioner, said a White House official, speaking Friday on condition of anonymity. Writing on X, Long said he would be named ambassador to Iceland.

“I am thrilled to answer [Trump's] call to service and deeply committed to advancing his bold agenda,” Long wrote. “Exciting times ahead!”

The move, which comes amid unprecedented turmoil at the IRS, caps one of the shortest and most unusual tenures of any IRS commissioner. It was first reported by the New York Times.

Long had been on the job for less than two months, and is the sixth leader this year of an agency that has been wracked by budget cuts and other controversies, with tens of thousands of employees heading for the exits.

The former Missouri congressman, a Trump loyalist, was a surprise pick to run the agency when he was first named to the job back in December. He had little previous experience in tax or running large organizations, and had been heavily involved in promoting a scandal-plagued tax credit for businesses that had been subject to a sweeping crackdown by the IRS.

And his nomination came though the then-current commissioner, Danny Werfel, still had nearly three years left on his term.

Werfel quit in January to make way for Long — whose nomination then languished in the Senate for months, with Democrats at one point complaining they had heard little from him though they needed Long’s tax records and other documentation in order to vet him.

Democrats had staunchly opposed his nomination and made clear Friday they were not sad to see him go.

“From the minute Trump announced Billy Long as his IRS pick it was obvious this would end badly,” said Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the top Democrat on the tax-writing Finance Committee. “He didn’t even last two months on the job.”

“This is what Trump does — pick incompetent, unserious people for serious jobs, and sit back as the damage piles up.”

A Treasury spokesperson said in a statement that Long's "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 announcement comes as the IRS and Treasury Department race to stand up Republicans’ new tax law.

Lawmakers left it up to the agencies to fill in the details of the provisions, many of which take effect this tax year so that people can benefit from them when they do their taxes in the spring.

Behind the scenes, administration lawyers have been sorting out the specifics of how new breaks for overtime pay, tips and other provisions will work.

Long told a conference last month that work would force the agency to postpone the start of tax filing season to February, from the customary January, though the agency later said it had not made a decision about the start date.