Washington, D.C. — Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today issued the following statement on Billy Long being forced out of his job as IRS commissioner:
“From the minute Trump announced Billy Long as his IRS pick it was obvious this would end badly, but every Senate Republican voted to confirm his nomination anyway. He didn’t even last two months on the job. Let’s not forget that there wasn’t a vacancy at the time Trump announced Long’s nomination. Danny Werfel, a skilled leader with fans among Democrats and Republicans, had years left on his term.
“In just a handful of months, Trump and his crew have already gutted taxpayer service, weaponized IRS data against innocent taxpayers and set us up for disaster when next year’s filing season comes around. This is what Trump does — pick incompetent, unserious people for serious jobs, and sit back as the damage piles up.
“Billy Long left Congress a few years ago and went straight into the tax fraud industry, his only real experience in tax before his nomination. My investigators have obtained alarming information pertaining to Long’s conduct at the IRS that we have begun to investigate, and that process will continue regardless of whether Trump stashes Long away in some foreign embassy.”
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