Werfel starts term as IRS commissioner

The new Internal Revenue Service commissioner, Danny Werfel, got right to work Monday only days after being confirmed by the Senate.

The Senate approved Werfel's nomination last Thursday by a bipartisan 54-42 margin as the 50th commissioner of the agency, which has found itself in the cross-hairs of politicians increasingly over the years. Werfel previously served as an acting commissioner of the IRS in 2013 for about a year after the IRS and some of its top officials came under attack from conservatives for holding up the approval of political groups, especially the ones affiliated with the Tea Party, that were applying for tax-exempt status ahead of the 2012 elections.

He previously worked at the White House Office of Management and Budget through multiple administrations, including as controller during the Obama administration. After leaving government, he worked in the private sector at Boston Consulting Group before returning to the IRS this year. 

He is arriving in the middle of a relatively quiet tax season, but he will have to deal with a number of contentious, politically fraught issues, including calls from Republicans to rescind the $80 billion in extra funding for the IRS provided by last year's Inflation Reduction Act, which was passed along party lines by Democrats. Republicans are also demanding answers about how the IRS will avoid targeting middle-class taxpayers with increased audits from the funds they received under the IRA, and they want to know how the tax returns of billionaires and millionaires were leaked to the investigative news site ProPublica for its series of articles dubbed the Secret IRS Files.

Werfel was sworn into office Monday morning by the former acting commissioner, Doug O'Donnell, who has been filling in since the end of former IRS commissioner Chuck Rettig's term last November. O'Donnell will be returning to his regular roles of deputy commissioner for services and enforcement.

"After taking the oath of office a short time ago, I feel incredibly grateful and humbled to have the chance to lead such an amazing group of dedicated public servants at a pivotal moment in IRS history," Werfel told IRS employees. "This role culminates a lifetime of commitment to public service for me."

Werfel first began work at the Office of Management and Budget in the late 1990s. He spent more than 15 years in the federal government, eventually serving as controller of the OMB. He came over to the IRS to temporarily serve as acting commissioner in 2013. He next served as a leader of Boston Consulting Group's public sector practice, first covering North America and then as a global leader.

"Following the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, we have a unique opportunity to make improvements for the IRS and the nation," Werfel wrote to IRS employees. "I am excited by this opportunity as well as the chance to work with you again."

His term will run through Nov. 12, 2027.