IRS Supervisory Special Agent Gary Shapley, whose whistleblower testimony was pivotal to House Republicans’ corruption investigation into Hunter Biden, was named the agency’s next acting commissioner.
Shapley, who has been fiercely critical of the IRS, will lead the agency until former Republican Rep. Billy Long, President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the agency permanently, is confirmed by the Senate, according to the Wall Street Journal. The move comes as the IRS goes through a massive restructuring under the Trump administration due to recommendations made by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, including layoffs of thousands of workers to downsize the agency.
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“Gary has proven his honesty and devotion to enforcing the law without fear or favor, even at great cost to his own career,” the Treasury, which oversees the IRS, said of Shapely’s promotion in a statement. “He’ll be a great asset to the IRS as we rethink and reform this crucial organization.”
The IRS did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for confirmation that Shapley will lead the agency.
Shapley’s lawyer, Tristan Leavitt, congratulated the whistleblower on his reported new job on Tuesday.
“Couldn’t think of a single better person, both as a dedicated leader and as a whistleblower who has seen the agency’s weaknesses and had the courage to speak up about them,” he said.
Shapely’s news comes after the Trump administration’s Treasury Department promoted him to a top leadership position in the agency last month.
His lawyers alleged he had previously been passed up for advancement under the Biden administration due to the whistleblower’s involvement in helping Congress investigate Hunter Biden. Shapely, who investigates tax crimes for the IRS, said he faced retaliation internally from management in 2023 after he accused the agency and the Department of Justice of slow-walking a yearslong investigation into Hunter Biden’s taxes to protect then-President Joe Biden.
IRS WHISTLEBLOWERS RESPOND TO HUNTER BIDEN PARDON
In September 2024, Hunter Biden pleaded guilty to all nine tax charges he faced. When Joe Biden pardoned his son for the tax felonies and another gun conviction, Shapely slammed the then-president for reneging on his promise not to issue the pardon.
“No amount of lies or spin can hide the simple truth that the Justice Department nearly let the President’s son off the hook for multiple felonies. We did our duty, told the truth, and followed the law. Anyone reading the President’s excuses now should remember that Hunter Biden admitted to his tax crimes in federal court, that Hunter Biden’s attorneys have targeted us for our lawful whistleblower disclosures, and that we are suing one of those attorneys for smearing us with false accusations,” Shapely said in a statement alongsided fellow IRS whistleblower, Special Agent Joseph Ziegler.
Former acting commissioner Melanie Krause resigned last week after the IRS entered into an agreement to share illegal immigrants’ tax information with the Department of Homeland Security to help with their deportation efforts.
The agency has also experienced upheaval in recent weeks with layoffs and mass resignations. Before Trump was inaugurated, the agency boasted 100,000 employees. Since then, 7,000 probationary employees have been laid off, and over 20,000 employees have taken a deferred resignation offer from the Trump administration, according to the New York Times.