Former IRS Commissioner Everson Running for President

Mark Everson, a former commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, is throwing his hat in the ring and running for president of the United States.

Everson was IRS commissioner from 2003 to 2007 and left to become president and CEO of the American Red Cross. He is currently vice chairman of the tax consulting firm alliantgroup and lives on Mississippi’s Gulf Coast. He recently gave an interview to Accounting Today about the impact of budget cuts on his old agency (see Former IRS Commissioner Everson Concerned about Budget Cuts).

If he becomes president, Everson would be in a position to do something about that, although Congress has been cutting the IRS’s budget for the past five years despite requests for budget increases from the Obama administration.

Everson told the Associated Press that he plans to run for the Republican presidential nomination, where he faces a crowded field that likely includes former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas.

Everson believes he has a chance to capture the nomination, even against better-known competitors. “I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn't believe I've got a chance,” Everson told the AP. “I think that who becomes president is not up to Wall Street and the fat cats across the country. It’s up to the voters.”