Trump Fires IRS Chief, Bessent Named Acting Head

President Donald Trump on Friday removed Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Billy Long and is replacing him temporarily with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, three sources with knowledge of the matter told NBC News.

Long was only just sworn in as commissioner in June. The change also comes days after Trump’s sprawling new tariffs took effect, and a month after the president signed several tax cuts and changes to the tax code into law.

Long confirmed to NBC News that he is leaving the job.

“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!” Long said in a text message to NBC News.

Bessent will become the sixth person this year to oversee the critical agency under Trump. Danny Werfel, who was nominated to the role by President Joe Biden, also held the job until Trump’s inauguration in January.

The temporary appointment adds to Bessent’s long list of tasks such as managing trade talks with China, Canada and Mexico as well as other countries that are still trying to negotiate tariff rates. Bessent is also currently helping with the search for the next Federal Reserve chair. The IRS is part of the Treasury Department.

Under the Trump administration, the IRS has faced sweeping job cuts as part of a push by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.

Before being confirmed by the Senate to run the IRS, Long was a congressman from Missouri from 2011 until 2023. Before serving in Congress, he was an auctioneer.

One day before his removal, Long sent all IRS employees an email saying, “Please enjoy a 70-minute early exit tomorrow. That way you’ll be rested for my 70th birthday on Monday,” The New York Times reported.

Internal vs. “external” revenue

Trump’s government is shaking up how the nation collects revenue. The United States is now collecting billions of dollars more in tariff revenue every month due Trump’s new import taxes. So far this year, importers, which include small and large U.S. businesses, have paid more than $100 billion in customs duties to the U.S. government.

Trump has long promised to set up an “external revenue service” for collecting those tariff revenues but the task still falls to the Treasury Department and Customs and Border Protection, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security.

Last month, Trump signed into law his “big, beautiful bill,” which includes sweeping tax cuts, spending initiatives and service cuts. The Senate passed the contentious bill thanks to Vice President JD Vance’s tiebreaker.

The law extends the expiring tax cuts he enacted in his first term, in 2017, while temporarily slashing taxes on tips and overtime pay and allowing deductions on auto loan interest payments. It also includes hundreds of billions of dollars in new spending on the military and on carrying out Trump’s mass deportation plans.

Republicans battled over how much they should cut federal safety net programs in the spending bill as well as how much to raise the deduction cap on state and local taxes, or SALT.

The legislation is projected to increase the national debt by $3.3 trillion over 10 years and lead to more than 11 million people losing health insurance coverage due to Medicaid cuts and other provisions.