It’s being reported that Acting IRS commissioner Gary Shapely is being replaced after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent complained to President Trump that Shapely was given the position without his knowledge, and at the behest of Elon Musk.
Here’s the report from Newsmax:
The acting commissioner of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service is being replaced after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent complained to President Donald Trump that the latest leader of the agency had been installed without his knowledge and at the behest of billionaire Elon Musk, The New York Times reported Friday.
The report cited five people with knowledge of the change and the discussions that precipitated it.
Bessent believed that Musk had done an end run around him to get Gary Shapley installed as the interim head of the IRS, even though the tax collection agency reports to Bessent, the newspaper said.
Neither the Treasury nor the IRS had any immediate comment. DOGE did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency pushed the appointment through White House channels, but Bessent was not consulted, according to the report, which added that Bessent got Trump’s approval to unwind the decision.
The next acting head of the IRS is expected to be the deputy secretary of the Treasury, Michael Faulkender, the New York Times reported. He would hold the role until the president’s nominee for the permanent role, former Congressman Billy Long, if approved by the Senate, takes over.
Trump picked Shapley on Tuesday following the departure of the previous interim head, Melanie Krause, who quit the tax-collecting agency after it struck a deal to share data with federal agents on migrants living illegally in the United States.
Bessent took to X to respond to the news:
Trust must be brought back to the IRS, and I am fully confident that @TreasuryDepSec Michael Faulkender is the right man for the moment.
Gary Shapley’s passion and thoughtfulness for approaching ways by which to create durable and lasting reforms at the IRS is essential to our work, and he remains among my most important senior advisors at the @USTreasury as we work together to rethink and reform the IRS.
After Gary and Joseph Ziegler complete their ongoing year-long investigation, I will ensure they are both in senior government roles that will enable the results of their investigation to translate into meaningful policy changes.
Wow. I do like Shapely but I’m glad Bessent got the man he wanted, especially since he’ll be reporting to Bessent. Bessent seems like he’s the right man for the job so I trust him on this.