Click here to watch Sen. Barrasso Question Mr. Long

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) questioned Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner nominee Billy Long about restoring credibility at the IRS and protecting taxpayers’ private financial data.

IRS Commissioner nominee Billy Long testified at today’s Senate Committee on Finance hearing.

On Restoring the Credibility of the IRS:

“Weaponizing the IRS – I think we saw that the last four years by the Biden administration against different groups, church groups, parents, all sorts of things, the IRS was weaponized.

“I think very few agencies in Washington are as present, in the lives of working families as the IRS is.

“When you came to visit with me, I told you my concerns and the concerns of the people of Wyoming that the IRS is the most powerful, but yet what we’ve seen in the past, the least accountable of the agencies of the government.  

“Under the Biden administration, that presence really shifted from helping people understand our taxes—to presuming everybody is breaking the law, that we were all a bunch of crooks.

“They wanted to add 87,000 IRS agents to shake down small businesses!

“Even the Congressional Budget Office said that if you add that much more IRS agents, then they will bring in that much more money, because they will be out there auditing small businesses and going after families.

“In Wyoming, I regularly hear from folks that are just concerned about any dealings they have with the IRS.

“Because these are honest taxpayers, they want to pay what they owe. They want to make sure that when they have a question, they can get an answer.

“Too often, if they call the IRS repeatedly, they’re unable to get anybody to answer the phone, or helping them comply, or saying this is a number you can rely on, and you pay this and it’s fair. 

“The IRS’s audit notices don’t seem to be delayed, but their answers seem to be delayed.

“This hiring of thousands of new agents to investigate taxpayers really, I think, set the IRS even further away from the American people in terms of an agency that they trust.

“If confirmed, can you talk a little bit about how you hope to restore the credibility of the IRS with the American people?”

On Protecting Taxpayer Data:

“People are very concerned about their own private information. People feel intimidated.

“Especially, their worry is that their data may get out, their information that they do not want shared with anybody, and it’s because of some hacking or something else in the IRS.

“Can you talk a little bit about that?”

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