# Billy Long, new IRS Commissioner? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [January 6, 2025, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-long-new-irs-commissioner/1012611 "2025-01-06T05:58:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-long-new-irs-commissioner/1012611/1 "2025-01-06T05:58:20Z")
No College degree, no expertise in accounting. While a REP he co-sponsored, in three consecutive sessions, a bill to abolish the IRS, the estate tax and gift tax. His desire is to destroy the Humane Society. In his private life he pushes problematic and illegal tax scams. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-long-new-irs-commissioner/1012611/2 "2025-01-06T08:59:16Z")
Howie Long would have been a better choice, and he likely has brain injuries from playing in the NFL. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-long-new-irs-commissioner/1012611/3 "2025-01-06T10:43:12Z")
He is absolutely positively the perfect choice for this job in the topsy turvy world of trumpland. ---
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-long-new-irs-commissioner/1012611/4 "2025-01-06T12:50:58Z")
Opposition to improving the IRS’ audit capabilities is one of the greatest cons the Republicans have ever pulled. It is very difficult for most wage earners to cheat at their taxes. 1099s show all their income (except under the table of course, but for most people that isn’t much) and more often than not their employers withhold MORE than they owe. That is to say, even if you audited the average (say) mechanic at the dealership, you won’t find much. Of course, the rich have many, many ways to cheat the IRS. Well, you get it, I’m sure. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-long-new-irs-commissioner/1012611/5 "2025-01-06T19:21:41Z")
> [@OldOlds](#): > > It is very difficult for most wage earners to cheat at their taxes. More or less true. > [@OldOlds](#): > > Of course, the rich have many, many ways to cheat the IRS. Very true. Which is why the GOP hates the IRS. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2025, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-long-new-irs-commissioner/1012611/6 "2025-08-08T19:48:10Z")
> **[Billy Long out as IRS commissioner after just 2 months on the job](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/billy-long-irs-commissioner/)** > > President Trump is replacing IRS Commissioner Billy Long and nominating him to an ambassadorship, a White House official said. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2025, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-long-new-irs-commissioner/1012611/7 "2025-08-09T01:32:00Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > [Billy Long out as IRS commissioner after just 2 months on the job - CBS News](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/billy-long-irs-commissioner/) Yep. They’re making him ambassador to Iceland. If Trump is an idiot the way some here think, it could be that being sent to Iceland was a pretty big insult. But I’d like it way more than heading up the IRS. From the [New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/08/us/politics/trump-billy-long-irs-commissioner.html?unlocked_article_code=1.c08.sxFZ.z4JU0CZ6vJHo&smid=url-share): > [@](#): > > A gregarious and colorful personality, Mr. Long had tried to cultivate a connection with the depleted and demoralized I.R.S. work force. > > He visited I.R.S. locations around the country and repeatedly sent emails to all I.R.S. employees allowing them to leave work early on Friday afternoons. > > “With this being Thursday before another FriYay, please enjoy a 70-minute early exit tomorrow. That way you’ll be rested for my 70th birthday on Monday!” Mr. Long wrote to staff on Thursday. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2025, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-long-new-irs-commissioner/1012611/8 "2025-08-09T18:24:39Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > From the [New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/08/us/politics/trump-billy-long-irs-commissioner.html?unlocked_article_code=1.c08.sxFZ.z4JU0CZ6vJHo&smid=url-share): > > > [@](#): > > > > A gregarious and colorful personality, Mr. Long had tried to cultivate a connection with the depleted and demoralized I.R.S. work force. > > > > He visited I.R.S. locations around the country and repeatedly sent emails to all I.R.S. employees allowing them to leave work early on Friday afternoons. > > > > “With this being Thursday before another FriYay, please enjoy a 70-minute early exit tomorrow. That way you’ll be rested for my 70th birthday on Monday!” Mr. Long wrote to staff on Thursday. I don’t think he was trying to “cultivate a connection with the depleted and demoralized I.R.S. work force.” I think he didn’t want them to do their job. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2025, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-long-new-irs-commissioner/1012611/9 "2025-08-09T21:23:02Z")
Perhaps he was a better person than people here are suggesting: > White House officials requested additional information on the taxpayers the IRS identified, the people said — specifically, if any of them had claimed the earned income tax credit, which can reduce the tax bill for some low-income filers. The IRS declined to provide that information, citing taxpayer privacy rights. > > Long had previously told agency executives that his agency would not furnish confidential taxpayer information outside of the confines of the IRS’s agreement with DHS, the people said. > > Still, the people did not know if tension over the IRS’s role in President Donald Trump’s mass deportation drive contributed to Long’s departure from the IRS. **IRS, White House clashed over immigrants’ data before tax chief was ousted** The Trump administration’s move to push out IRS Commissioner Billy Long came after the agency said it couldn’t release some information on taxpayers suspected of being here illegally. [https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/taxes/irs-white-house-clashed-over-immigrants-data-before-tax-chief-was-ousted/ar-AA1Kdy8o](https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/taxes/irs-white-house-clashed-over-immigrants-data-before-tax-chief-was-ousted/ar-AA1Kdy8o) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2025, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-long-new-irs-commissioner/1012611/10 "2025-08-09T23:09:55Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > The Trump administration’s move to push out IRS Commissioner Billy Long came after the agency said it couldn’t release some information on taxpayers suspected of being here illegally. Because that would be illegal. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2025, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-long-new-irs-commissioner/1012611/11 "2025-08-09T23:44:05Z")
Even the Nixon Doctrine\* wouldn’t help, because a minion obeying an objectively illegal order would be cheerfully hung out to dry, and Long knows it. \*“Well, when the president does it … that means that it is not illegal.”