Trump removes Billy Long as IRS commissioner, giving him the shortest-ever tenure in the role

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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has removed former U.S. Rep. Billy Long as IRS commissioner less than two months after his confirmation, a White House official said Friday.

It was not immediately clear why Long was dismissed. His quick exit makes him the shortest-tenured IRS commissioner confirmed by the Senate since the position was created in 1862.

Long said in a social media post that Trump had nominated him for an ambassadorship.

“It is a honor to serve my friend President Trump and I am excited to take on my new role as the ambassador to Iceland. I am thrilled to answer his call to service and deeply committed to advancing his bold agenda. Exciting times ahead!” the former Missouri congressman wrote on X.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will serve as acting IRS commissioner, according to the White House official, who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Long’s ouster only compounds the turmoil at the nation’s tax collector, which has been beset by turnover since the beginning of Trump’s second term. The IRS shuffled through four acting leaders before Long was confirmed in June and has lost a quarter of its staff since the Department of Government Efficiency burrowed in in a self-stated mission to reduce waste, fraud and abuse.

In a message to IRS employees after he was confirmed, Long talked about his plans for his first few months in office, a milestone he did not reach.

"In my first 90 days I plan to ask you, my employee partners, to help me develop a new culture here,” Long wrote. “I’m big on culture, and I’m anxious to develop one that makes your lives and the taxpayers’ lives better.”

In many ways, he was an unusual pick for the role. While in Congress, where he served from 2011 to 2023, Long sponsored legislation to get rid of the IRS. A former auctioneer, Long had no background in tax administration.

The Senate confirmed Long on a 53-44 vote despite Democrats’ concerns about the Republican’s past work for a firm that pitched a fraud-ridden coronavirus pandemic-era tax break and about campaign contributions he received after Trump nominated him.

After leaving Congress to mount an unsuccessful 2022 bid for the U.S. Senate, Long worked with a firm that distributed the pandemic-era employee retention tax credit. That tax credit program was eventually shut down after then-IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel determined that it was fraudulent.

Democrats called for a criminal investigation into Long’s connections to other alleged tax credit loopholes. The lawmakers allege that firms connected to Long duped investors into spending millions of dollars to purchase fake tax credits.

The acting Ieaders who preceded Long in the role included one who resigned over a deal between the IRS and the Department of Homeland Security to share immigrants’ tax data with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and another whose appointment led to a fight between former Trump adviser Elon Musk and Bessent.

Long's departure comes after the agency underwent a series of DOGE-related job cuts this year. The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration reports that the agency has been cut down from 103,000 workers in January to 77,000 workers in May 2025. Most of the reductions came from DOGE's deferred resignation program. The workforce reductions were part of the Trump administration’s efforts to shrink the size of the federal bureaucracy.