Senate Confirms Billy Long as IRS Commissioner

On June 12, 2025 the Senate confirmed former Missouri congressman Billy Long as IRS Commissioner by a party-line 53-44 vote. Long, a six-term House Republican who left office in 2021, had previously backed legislation to abolish the IRS and spent his years out of Congress promoting tax credits, including the Employee Retention Tax Credit and a tribal tax credit the IRS itself has said does not exist.

The confirmation places a longtime critic of the agency in charge of overseeing tax enforcement, collection, and taxpayer services at a time when the IRS is already undergoing significant staffing cuts under the administration. Senate Democrats raised concerns during the nomination process about Long's promotion of the disputed tax credits.

Supporters frame the pick as bringing an outsider's skepticism to an agency in need of reform. Critics say it continues a second-term pattern of placing ideological opponents of an agency's mission in charge of running it, which risks hollowing out enforcement and institutional expertise rather than improving oversight. Long can serve without renomination until November 2027.