The Trump White House forced out IRS Commissioner Billy Long after a clash over sharing taxpayer data to help locate undocumented immigrants, according to two people familiar with the situation.
Just hours before Long was pushed out on Friday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) sent the IRS a list of 40,000 names. These were people DHS believed were in the country illegally. DHS asked the IRS to use confidential taxpayer data to verify their addresses.
This request came from an agreement made in April between the Treasury Department, which oversees the IRS, and DHS. The deal was meant to allow data sharing while protecting taxpayer privacy. However, IRS privacy lawyers opposed it.
DHS officials said they planned to eventually ask the IRS for help locating about 7 million people. That is a large part of the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S.
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When the IRS checked the 40,000 names, it could verify fewer than 3 percent, the people said. Most matched individuals were those who had an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN). Immigrants who cannot get Social Security numbers use ITINs to pay taxes. Undocumented immigrants pay tens of billions in taxes yearly, and ITINs help with that.
White House officials then asked for more information on the taxpayers the IRS found, specifically whether any had claimed the earned income tax credit (EITC), which can reduce the tax bill for some low-income filers. The IRS refused, citing taxpayer privacy rights.
Long had told agency officials the IRS would not provide confidential taxpayer information beyond what was agreed with DHS, the people said.
It is unclear if this disagreement over data sharing led to Long’s removal.
A White House spokeswoman, Abigail Jackson, said: “The Trump administration is working in lockstep to eliminate information silos and to prevent illegal aliens from taking advantage of benefits meant for hardworking American taxpayers.” She added, “Any absurd assertion other than everyone being aligned on the mission is simply false and totally fake news.”
DHS also defended the agreement, saying it “outlines a process to ensure that sensitive taxpayer information is protected, while allowing law enforcement to effectively pursue criminal violations.” The agency added: “After four years of Joe Biden flooding the nation with illegal aliens, these processes streamline pursuit of violent criminals, scrub these individuals from voter rolls, identify what public benefits these aliens are using at taxpayer expense, all while protecting American citizens’ safety and data.”
Treasury Department officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Long said Trump intends to nominate him as U.S. ambassador to Iceland after less than two months as IRS commissioner. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will serve as interim IRS commissioner. Trump officials confirmed these moves.
Long joked on social media that he had called Trump and asked to join ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement). “I guess he thought I said Iceland?” Long wrote. “Oh well.”
Since January, the IRS has had six leaders amid the Trump administration’s cost-cutting and shakeups. One acting commissioner left after disputes over Elon Musk’s involvement with the agency, another left after the DHS data-sharing agreement, and a third was pushed out after only two days over conflicts between Musk and Bessent.
Featured image via Youtube screengrab
