MW Trump's IRS pick may have a 'DOGE' problem on his hands

Andrew Keshner

Billy Long has pledged to improve customer service and protect taxpayer data - two areas where 'Department of Government Efficiency' activities have drawn scrutiny

President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the Internal Revenue Service will face a critical first test on the job: What can he achieve at the agency after the so-called Department of Government Efficiency is done with it?

Senators pressed Billy Long, the nominee for IRS commissioner, at his confirmation hearing Tuesday about what taxpayers should expect next from the agency. He committed to improving customer service and protecting taxpayer data - two areas where "DOGE" activities have drawn considerable public scrutiny.

The IRS has undergone major changes in the early months of the Trump administration, including cost cuts, staff cuts and what observers say are breaks with past norms on taxpayer privacy. DOGE, a project led by tech billionaire Elon Musk, has been a key part of those swift and significant changes for the nation's tax collector.

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Supporters of DOGE say it is doing necessary work to cut bloat from the federal government, while critics say it's been wielding a hatchet instead of a scalpel.

By the end of March, the IRS had shed 11% of a workforce that was more than 100,000 people at the start of the year, according to a Treasury Department watchdog report. Some workers taking the deferred-resignation offer had to stay on through mid-May to assist with the recently concluded tax-filing season, the report said.

"You're coming in after the DOGE wrecking ball has already been there," Sen. Peter Welch, a Vermont Democrat, said during the confirmation hearing.

Welch asked Long for his assessment of the tax collector's current ability to answer phones and offer customer service. "My opinion is that the phone service, that I've been given to understand, is lousy," Long replied.

Long said he had recently heard from a person who had spent more than two hours on hold with the agency - only to be told by the IRS customer-service representative that she didn't have time for him to search for the records he needed.

Over more than two hours, Long got an earful from Welch and other Democratic senators. The lawmakers grilled Long on whether he would be able to avoid any political influence from the White House and his promotion of controversial tax credits after he left office at the start of 2023.

Long pledged that he had followed the law in all instances and would not let the IRS be politicized. "Fairness is one of the main drivers of what needs to be done at the IRS," he said.

But Long also heard from several senators in both parties about the problems their own offices have faced as they try to address constituents' tax problems.

Sen. James Lankford, an Oklahoma Republican, said his staff's case workers were seeing more delays in getting to the bottom of constituents' tax problems.

"If we go back several years ago, it was a very long time to be able to get an answer and so all our offices were flooded with questions," he said. "That's gotten progressively better and now it's not as good as it was, let's say, six months ago."

To be sure, lawmakers have griped to IRS leaders about customer service during both the Biden administration and Trump's first term. On Tuesday, Long was put in the position of pledging better IRS customer service - a Republican priority for the agency - without questioning the recent cuts.

The DOGE work at the IRS has also included an effort to gain access to a database of sensitive taxpayer information. Historically, the system can only be accessed for specific reasons like entering a specific adjustment or collections connected to one tax return, or certain research. Several unions and nonprofits are suing the IRS in federal court to stop DOGE from accessing the information.

An agreement between the IRS and the Department of Homeland Security that allows sharing of noncitizens' tax data with immigration authorities has also raised concerns among immigration advocates and civil liberties groups.

Sen. Ben Ray Luján, a New Mexico Democrat, said he had heard from 850 constituents concerned that their private tax records were at risk due to DOGE's potential access. He asked if Long thought DOGE workers should have access to the database.

"I don't think that anyone's taxpayer data should be released to anyone that doesn't need it for legitimate purposes of the IRS," Long replied.

Other observers have said there are ways DOGE staff can protect taxpayers' privacy while taking what they say is a necessary look at what the numbers are showing on waste and fraud.

The Republican tax bill moving through the House of Representatives would stiffen civil and criminal penalties for disclosure of taxpayer information. Congressional Republicans still cite a case in which a government contractor was able to leak the tax returns of Trump and other prominent taxpayers to the media. The person is serving a five-year sentence.

If there are wrongful DOGE-related disclosures of tax information, Luján asked, "should that person go to prison the same way that the person that released Donald Trump's tax returns went to prison for five years?"

In response, Long said he would "follow the law wherever the law takes it. So if it's illegal, it's illegal. If it's not, it's not."

-Andrew Keshner

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May 21, 2025 15:41 ET (19:41 GMT)

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