Senate Confirms Biden’s Pick for IRS Commissioner

Acting IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel arrives on Capitol Hill in Washington, on June 27, 2013. J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo

The U.S. Senate on March 9 voted to confirm President Joe Biden’s nominee for commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Daniel “Danny” Werfel, confirmed in a 54-42 vote, managed to garner the support of several Senate Republicans and nearly all the chamber’s Democrats, save Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.).

“Mr. Werfel told the Finance Committee that he will make his priorities delivering fairness and building trust,” Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) noted on the Senate floor before the vote. “We know that he will do just that because he’s done it before.”

In 2013, Werfel was selected by former President Barack Obama to serve as acting IRS commissioner while the agency was under scrutiny for targeting conservative organizations.

Describing Werfel’s performance then as one that “improved trust” in the IRS, Wyden expressed confidence that Werfel would be impartial in carrying out his duties as commissioner.

Manchin, on the other hand, had doubts.

“While Daniel Werfel is supremely qualified to serve as the IRS commissioner, I have zero faith he will be given the autonomy to perform the job in accordance with the law and for that reason, I cannot support his nomination,” Manchin explained in a Wednesday statement, citing concerns over the Biden administration’s implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

Werfel, who also previously worked for the Office of Management and Budget, will once again lead the IRS during a tense period as, per the IRA, the agency is set to receive an $80 billion increase in funding over the next 10 years—a boost Republicans have decried as a move to create an “army of IRS agents.”

In January, legislation to rescind more than $70 billion of those funds was passed along party lines in the House. The bill, dubbed the Family and Small Business Taxpayer Protection Act, has yet to be considered in the Senate.

“This was our very first act of the new Congress, because government should work for you, not against you,” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) noted after the bill’s passage. “Promises made. Promises kept.”

During the process of his confirmation, Werfel was asked by the Senate Finance Committee how the IRS would spend the new infusion of funds under his direction. In response, he pledged not to expand tax audits on businesses and households making less than $400,000 per year.

“If I am fortunate enough to be confirmed, the audit and compliance priorities will be focused on enhancing the IRS’s capabilities to ensure that America’s highest earners comply with applicable tax laws,” Werfel vowed at a Feb. 15 confirmation hearing.

“If poor people are more likely to be audited than the wealthy, that is something I think potentially degrades public trust and needs to be addressed within the tax system,” he added.