Bessent no longer acting IRS commissioner

The Internal Revenue Service confirmed Friday that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's term as acting IRS commissioner has expired, although he will continue to oversee the IRS as part of his duties running the Treasury Department.

Bessent became acting commissioner of the IRS after the departure last August of Billy Long, who only lasted two months in the job amid a series of rapid changes in leadership at the agency. Last year, the IRS had seven commissioners and acting commissioners. 

"Consistent with applicable law and longstanding practice, the Secretary of the Treasury oversees the operations of all Treasury offices and bureaus, including the Internal Revenue Service," the IRS said in a news release Friday. "Secretary Scott Bessent's service as Acting Commissioner of the IRS under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act has expired, and he has not served in that capacity since that time."

Earlier this week, a group of Senate Democrats sent a letter to Bessent reminding him that he had served past the limit for an acting commissioner who had not been confirmed for that role by the Senate.

"Since August 8, 2025 — when President Trump removed Commissioner Billy Long — the IRS has operated without a confirmed Commissioner," wrote Senate Finance Committee ranking member Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, in a letter to Bessent and and Dan Scavino, director of the Office of Presidential Personnel. "During that time, the Secretary of the Treasury has served as Acting Commissioner while simultaneously holding another Cabinet office, and a newly invented 'chief executive officer' has assumed day-to-day control of the agency. The position of IRS CEO is a fake job that Congress has never authorized. There is no reason to see the Trump administration's appointment of a CEO as anything more than a strategy to avoid the vetting and confirmation process for a replacement commissioner. … The Acting Commissioner's authority appears to have expired on March 6, 2026, absent a pending nomination. No nominee has been submitted."

Last October, Bessent and President Trump appointed Frank Bisgnano to a new CEO position at the IRS. Bisignano is also commissioner in charge of the IRS, for which he was confirmed by the Senate. However, the new CEO position at the IRS is not a Senate-confirmed post.

"In accordance with the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, the Secretary retains the authority and responsibility to perform the functions and duties of vacant Treasury offices that are not filled on an acting basis," said the IRS news release. "The IRS continues to operate without interruption, with Chief Executive Officer Frank J. Bisignano successfully leading day-to-day operations and reporting directly to the Secretary."

Bisignano testified during a hearing last week midway through tax season in front of the House Ways and Means Committee, where some Democrats questioned how he could continue to fulfill both roles running the IRS and the Social Security Administration. However, Bisignano declined to comment about his role with the Social Security Administration, insisting that wasn't the subject of the hearing. In January, he announced a leadership shake-up at the IRS, appointing former acting commissioner Gary Shapley as the deputy chief of the IRS's Criminal Investigation division and Jared Koopman as chief tax compliance officer and chief of the CI unit.