Bensant appointed acting IRS commissioner; immigration authorities begin receiving tax returns from undocumented immigrants

President Trump fired IRS Commissioner Billy Long less than two months after taking the job. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is currently filling the vacancy on an interim basis. Since Trump’s return to office, the IRS Commissioner has frequently changed, and Bessent will be the sixth commissioner since Trump’s second term.

Axios reported that Long left the position less than two months after being sworn in as IRS Commissioner, and Bessent will fill the vacancy on an interim basis. Long, a former Republican congressman from Missouri, announced on social media on the 8th that he had been appointed by Trump to serve as U.S. ambassador to Iceland.

CNN reported that sources said the IRS began sharing sensitive personal data of taxpayers with immigration authorities last week to track down undocumented immigrants.

To support Trump’s push for large-scale deportations of undocumented immigrants, the Treasury Department and the Department of Homeland Security signed an agreement in April to hand over to DHS the tax returns of undocumented immigrants who have received final removal orders or are under federal criminal investigation, including names, addresses, and tax return details. An estimated 7 million undocumented immigrants’ tax returns may be in the hands of immigration authorities, but immigration lawyers say sensitive tax returns require a court order to obtain.

Undocumented immigrants are often encouraged to register with the IRS and file federal income tax returns, arguing that this demonstrates their legal status and can benefit their immigration cases.

Sources familiar with the matter said that the IRS began sharing large amounts of undocumented immigrant tax returns last week at the request of the Trump administration. Over the past few months, concerns have been raised within the IRS about the illegality of sharing taxpayer information, leading some IRS officials to resign or submit their resignations.

The report cited sources as saying that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) requested the IRS for the records of 1.23 million taxpayers suspected of being in the country illegally, but ultimately received only 5% of that information because the individuals on the ICE list did not match the IRS records. The White House was unhappy with the outcome.

In December 2024, Trump announced that Long would be the head of the IRS, but the nomination was not approved by the Senate until June of this year.

Former IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel, originally scheduled to serve until 2027, resigned in January of this year on Trump’s inauguration day. The IRS commissioner position was temporarily filled by a deputy commissioner, who later retired.

In February, Bessant announced the promotion of Melanie Krause, the IRS’s chief data analyst, to commissioner. Clark resigned in April for refusing to share taxpayer information with immigration authorities.

Before Long En’s personnel appointment was approved, there were two acting directors.