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us department of the treasury
'The Clown Show Continues': Billy Long Out at IRS, But Probe to Persist
Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden said that "my investigators have obtained alarming information pertaining to Long's conduct at the IRS that we have begun to investigate."
Aug 08, 2025
Less than two months after U.S. Senate Republicans confirmed Billy Long as head of the Internal Revenue Service, the scandal-plagued commissioner confirmed on Friday that he is leaving the IRS to serve as President Donald Trump's ambassador to Iceland.
U.S. Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.)—who opposed Long's IRS nomination with the rest of the chamber's Democrats—pledged in a Friday statement that a probe of the outgoing commissioner will continue.
"From the minute Trump announced Billy Long as his IRS pick it was obvious this would end badly, but every Senate Republican voted to confirm his nomination anyway," said Wyden. "He didn't even last two months on the job. Let's not forget that there wasn't a vacancy at the time Trump announced Long's nomination. Danny Werfel, a skilled leader with fans among Democrats and Republicans, had years left on his term."
The senator pointed out that "in just a handful of months, Trump and his crew have already gutted taxpayer service, weaponized IRS data against innocent taxpayers, and set us up for disaster when next year's filing season comes around. This is what Trump does—pick incompetent, unserious people for serious jobs, and sit back as the damage piles up."
"Billy Long left Congress a few years ago and went straight into the tax fraud industry, his only real experience in tax before his nomination," he added. "My investigators have obtained alarming information pertaining to Long's conduct at the IRS that we have begun to investigate, and that process will continue regardless of whether Trump stashes Long away in some foreign embassy."
The ouster was initially reported by The New York Times, which noted that "Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will serve as acting commissioner until a permanent replacement takes office," according to a senior Trump administration official.
Long then confirmed the development on his personal social media account, saying that "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!"
He later added a joke about Immigration and Customs Enforcement: "I saw where former Superman actor Dean Cain says he's joining ICE so I got all fired up and thought I'd do the same. So I called Donald Trump last night and told him I wanted to join ICE and I guess he thought I said Iceland? Oh well."
A spokesperson for Bessent's department, which includes the IRS, said in a statement: "Treasury thanks Commissioner Long for his commitment to public service and the American people. His zeal and enthusiasm to bring a fresh perspective to the federal government was evident in both the House of Representatives and as part of the Trump administration. A new candidate for commissioner will be announced at the appropriate time."
Long previously represented Missouri in the U.S. House, where Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Richard Neal (D-Mass.) responded to the IRS commissioner's exit with a statement blasting Trump.
"We don't even need more details on Trump's latest scuttle to know how damaging his presidency has been for the IRS," Neal said. "With nearly a new commissioner each month and weakened customer service from his mass firings, the rampant instability comes at the expense of all who rely on it. One thing is for sure: Secretary Bessent should focus on his own job before collecting more responsibility."
Several critics, including Neal, highlighted that Long was preceded by several IRS leaders this year. As retired Adm. Mike Franken, a former Democratic U.S. Senate candidate from Iowa, put it on social media: "IRS Commissioner Billy Long is removed, the sixth change this year, by the guy who only hires 'the very best people.' The clown show continues."
Long's firing prompted widespread speculation that he was leaving the IRS because he refused to comply with an order from the president. Journalist Josh Marshall wondered, "How bad did the ask have to be for a Trumpy sleazebag like Billy Long to say no?"
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Jeffrey Epstein's Financial Secrets 'Are Sitting in a Treasury Department Filing Cabinet': Dem Senator
"I am convinced that the DOJ ignored evidence found in the U.S. Treasury Department's Epstein file," wrote Sen. Ron Wyden.
Jul 23, 2025
A Democratic senator on Wednesday sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi outlining potentially explosive financial reports that could detail the funding of the sex-trafficking ring run by the late financier Jeffrey Epstein.
As reported by The New Republic, Sen. Ron Wyden's (D-Ore.) letter to Bondi outlined seven lines of inquiry that the U.S. Department of Justice could pursue based on the information that he and his staff have uncovered regarding the financing of Epstein's illicit operations. Specifically, Wyden zeroed in on Suspicious Activity Reports (SARS) that were filed with the U.S. Department of the Treasury that include "information on more than 4,725 wire transfers involving Epstein's accounts" that total $1.5 billion in value.
Wyden then pointedly questioned why the DOJ had not yet made public any findings related to investigations it has conducted into the flagged transactions—if it has bothered to conduct any such investigations at all.
"I am convinced that the DOJ ignored evidence found in the U.S. Treasury Department's Epstein file, a binder that contains extensive details on the mountains of cash Epstein received from prominent businessmen that Epstein used to finance his criminal network," Wyden wrote. "Epstein clearly had access to enormous financing to operate his sex-trafficking network, and the details on how he got the cash to pay for it are sitting in a Treasury Department filing cabinet."
Wyden said that he and his staff also uncovered "hundreds of millions of dollars in wire transfers" sent to Epstein via several Russian banks that have since been sanctioned by the United States government. The senator added that "it appears that these wire transfers were correlated to the movement of women or girls around the world."
Epstein has been in the news lately after the Bondi-led DOJ earlier this month published a memo concluding that Epstein did not have a "client list" of wealthy elites involved in his sex-trafficking operation, which often involved young girls who at the time were under the age of 18. This caused a firestorm among many supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump who have long alleged that any Epstein client list would implicate figures including former President Bill Clinton and Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates.
Complicating matters is the fact that Trump himself also had a years-long friendship with Epstein. In a 2002 interview with New York magazine, Trump described Epstein as "a lot of fun to be with" while adding that "it is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side."
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ICE-IRS Deal Blasted as 'Bad Policy. Bad Economics. And Cruel.'
"The administration is shattering what little trust remains between immigrant communities and the government and putting critical revenue streams at risk," said one critic.
Apr 08, 2025
Migrant and privacy rights advocates this week are sounding the alarm over a deal signed by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to hand sensitive taxpayer data over to immigration authorities as part of U.S. President Donald Trump's mass deportation effort.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) "to establish a clear and secure process to support law enforcement's efforts to combat illegal immigration," a Treasury Department spokesperson told Fox News, which reported on the development after a late Monday court filing.
"The bases for this MOU are founded in long-standing authorities granted by Congress, which serve to protect the privacy of law-abiding Americans while streamlining the ability to pursue criminals," the spokesperson said. "After four years of [former President] Joe Biden flooding the nation with illegal aliens, President Trump's highest priority is to ensure the safety of the American people."
After weeks of warnings about a potential data transfer deal, it was revealed as part of a legal case brought by Centro de Trabajadores Unidos, Immigrant Solidarity DuPage, Inclusive Action for the City, and Somos Un Pueblo Unido, which are represented by Alan Morrison, Public Citizen Litigation Group, and Raise the Floor Alliance.
"Taxpayer privacy is a cornerstone of the U.S. tax system," Public Citizen co-president Lisa Gilbert said in a Tuesday statement. "This move by the IRS is an unprecedented breach of taxpayer privacy laws and confidentiality, which has been respected by both political parties for decades."
"The Trump administration's terror tactic of using immigrants' tax data against them will drive some of our most vulnerable communities further underground," she warned. "If this taxpayer information isn't safe from the prying eyes of the Trump administration's goons, then no one's taxpayer information is safe."
Juliette Kayyem, a former Department of Homeland Security official now lecturing at the Harvard Kennedy School, wrote on social media: "Bad policy. Bad economics. And cruel. They are so desperate to get their deportation numbers up that they are doing this."
Multiple members of Congress also blasted the move. Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.) said that "the IRS should NEVER be weaponized to target immigrant families. This backdoor deal with ICE shatters decades of trust—and may be illegal."
"I will fight this with everything I've got," vowed Gomez, a member of the House Ways and Means Committee. "No one should fear that filing taxes puts their family at risk."
Congressman Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) was among the critics who emphasized that the MOU doesn't just affect migrants.
"First things first: The impact of folks not filing their taxes because they are afraid of deportation would be detrimental to our economy," he explained. "Two: Immigrants pay taxes but do not benefit from the social programs that most taxpayers do. Three: Everyone should be concerned about the privacy implications here. This sets the precedent that the federal government can arbitrarily share your personal information with law enforcement. And it's just wrong."
Rep. Juan Vargas (D-Calif.) similarly said: "For decades, undocumented immigrants have trusted the IRS when it encouraged them to file. They've paid taxes in good faith, contributing nearly $100 BILLION per year and supporting social services they can't even access. Not only is this a total betrayal, but it's also illegal. We'll fight this."
The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy also highlighted that "turning the IRS away from its job (collecting taxes) to instead focus on mass deportation efforts will mean less tax revenue collected on top of the harm done to families and communities affected by deportations."
In response to The New York Times' reporting on the deal, American Immigration Council senior fellow Aaron Reichlin-Melnick pointed out on social media that the MOU "is, on its face, limited to criminal investigations (not deportation investigations)."
"There are many questions raised about this new [agreement], which seems to violate previous understandings of the laws requiring IRS not to share taxpayer information," he continued. "But at its heart it does not seem that the MOU permits ICE to ask for taxpayer data for deportation reasons."
"It seems primarily to be aimed at criminal investigations for willful failure to depart after the issuance of a removal order, a crime on the books which (until now) is virtually never prosecuted," Reichlin-Melnick added. "Despite the fact that this MOU is limited only to criminal law enforcement, it will likely have a chilling effect on undocumented taxpayers."
How the Trump administration actually proceeds remains to be seen. The court filing says no information has been shared between the agenices yet—but the deal comes as part of a wave of anti-immigrant policies and rhetoric from the president and his officials.
"With the Supreme Court greenlighting Trump's use of the Alien Enemies Act and the administration now gaining access to sensitive IRS data, we continue to slip into a new era of authoritarianism in America," Beatriz Lopez, co-executive director of the Immigration Hub, said a Tuesday statement "The digital and physical dragnets that Trump is building mean millions of immigrants—many of whom have followed the law and paid their taxes for decades—are now vulnerable to indiscriminate brutality and quiet erasure with little opportunity for redress."
Lopez stressed that "undocumented immigrants already contribute billions to our economy—often paying a higher effective tax rate than 55 major corporations and some of the wealthiest individuals in America. By weaponizing private taxpayer data, the administration is shattering what little trust remains between immigrant communities and the government and putting critical revenue streams at risk."
"Coupled with Trump's xenophobic tariff threats and a $350 billion demand to fund mass disappearances and deportations, this is more than an attack on immigrants—it's a calculated effort to destabilize the country and remake its image," she concluded. "Congress must reject this funding and the authoritarian playbook behind it. This is not policy. It's punishment."
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