IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel Announces Departure

IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel has announced that he is leaving the agency on January 20, 2025.

The timing is something of a surprise, since it was expected that Werfel might remain through tax season. Late last year, President-elect Donald Trump announced he has tapped former Congressman Billy Long as IRS Commissioner, even though Werfel is serving a term that would normally run until late in 2027. Werfel said last week, when asked about his departure, that he was laser focused “on one thing and one thing only and that is getting ready for this filing season. That is my sole focus.”

Werfel released a statement today that said, in part, “After significant introspection and consultation with others, I’ve determined the best way to support a successful transition is to depart the IRS on January 20, 2025. While leaving a job you love is never easy, I take comfort in knowing that the civil servant leaders and employees at the IRS are the exact right team to effectively steward this organization forward until a new IRS Commissioner is confirmed.”

It’s unclear when the hearing for Long might occur. Werfel, who was nominated by President Biden on November 10, 2022, didn’t face the Senate until February 2023 (Charles Rettig, who served before Werfel) waited about seven months for confirmation.

Danny Werfel

Werfel noted that he began his career in public service at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as a GS-9 in the late 1990s. GS is an abbreviation for General Schedule, the predominant federal pay scale. The system has 15 grades, beginning with GS-1 and going up to GS-15—there are 10 steps within each grade. A GS-9 is described as “mostly mid-level technical and first level supervisory positions.”

Werfel served as the interim IRS Commissioner for several months in 2013 after Steven T. Miller resigned under pressure during the Lois Lerner scandal.

Werfel has spent most of the last decade in the private sector at Boston Consulting Group. He graduated from Cornell University before earning his law degree from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He also holds a Master of Public Policy from Duke University.

He was confirmed as IRS Commissioner in 2023 and expected to serve his full term. Commissioners are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate—the IRS Commissioner and the IRS Chief Counsel are the only federal appointees in the agency. IRS Commissioners typically serve a five-year term from the date of their nomination, which means that Werfel expected to leave in 2027. However, breaking with tradition, Trump announced that he would replace Werfel with his own candidate for the job.

Billy Long

Billy Long, Werfel’s expected successor, has a different resume. Long does not have any formal training in tax, law, or accounting, does not have a college degree and never served in Congress on a tax writing committee. He dropped out of the University of Missouri before returning to school—this time, to an auction training program at the Missouri Auction School. He was told, he explained to Auctioneer Magazine that it was the “Harvard of auctioneering schools.” There, he earned his Certified Auctioneer designation.

Once he made the career switch to auctioneering, Long says that for 20 years, he averaged about 200 auctions per year. Today, he is in the National Auction Association Hall of Fame.

In 2010, Long was elected as the U.S. Representative of Missouri’s 7th Congressional District, serving until 2023. He subsequently ran for the U.S. Senate in 2022 but lost in the Republican primary.

Trump described Long as a “Business and Tax advisor, helping Small Businesses navigate the complexities of complying with the IRS Rules and Regulations.” However, in recent weeks, Democratic Senators have expressed concerns about Long’s tax experience, especially with respect to the employee retention credit (ERC). Last month, Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) sent letters to tax advisory firms asking for more information about his role in promoting the credit.

Werfel’s Goodbye

In his farewell message, Werfel thanked IRS employees, saying, “Thanks to your tireless efforts, we have delivered two of the best filing seasons in decades, with significantly improved phone, online and in-person service. We answered nearly nine in 10 calls the last two filing seasons, up from fewer than two in 10 calls, while cutting call wait times from 30 minutes to under five minutes.”

Werfel went on to tout progress in modernizing the IRS, including launching new digital tools (he says that the agency introduced “more digital tools in the last two years than the previous 20”). Those efforts, he says, will make it easier for the IRS to implement new changes in 2025, while reducing costs.

Reaction

Wyden issued a statement on Werfel’s announcement, saying, in part, “Danny Werfel has been an exceptional IRS commissioner. He oversaw historic improvements in taxpayer service, and he will leave the IRS in much better shape than he found it.”

What Comes Next

Following Werfel’s departure, Deputy Commissioner Douglas O’Donnell will step in as Acting Commissioner (O’Donnell has served as Deputy since early 2024). It’s a familiar role—O’Donnell served as acting IRS Commissioner from November 2022 through March 2023. Prior to becoming Deputy Commissioner for Services and Enforcement in 2021, Doug served as the commissioner of the IRS Large Business and International (LB&I) Division for nearly six years. O’Donnell began his career with IRS in 1986 as a revenue agent in Washington, DC, and he holds a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from the University of Maryland, College Park.

Werfel indicated that over the next few days, the IRS will provide more specifics on leadership changes.

(Author’s note: Updated to reflect statement from Sen. Wyden.)