Former Rep. Billy Long, R-Mo., who retired after losing a 2022 Senate bid, got the nod from President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday to be his nominee for IRS commissioner.
Long served for six terms in the House and left Congress after placing a distant fourth in the GOP primary to succeed retiring Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., two years ago. He ultimately endorsed the winner, Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., but he clashed with Missouri’s other GOP senator, Josh Hawley, over the latter’s endorsement of another primary rival, ex-Rep. Vicky Hartzler, R-Mo.
The colorful Long was one of the first GOP lawmakers to endorse Trump during his first run for the presidency in 2016, and was seen at times toting around the Capitol grounds fake $45 bills with Trump’s face — a nod to the 45th president.
Long didn’t have much of a tax background before serving in Congress — his career was in real estate, auctioneering and hosting a radio talk show — and he wasn’t a member of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee. Long served on Energy and Commerce where he focused on issues like rural broadband access and health care policy.
A fellow Missouri Republican who happens to be the House Ways and Means chairman — Rep. Jason Smith — praised Trump’s choice to lead the tax-collection agency on Wednesday. “I couldn’t have picked anyone better,” Smith said.
Others weren’t nearly as effusive.
“Billy Long doesn’t have any experience relevant to running the IRS but that is exactly what Trump was looking for,” Lindsay Owens, executive director of Groundwork Action, a progressive advocacy group, said in a statement. “This pick sends a clear signal that Trump’s IRS will be open season for tax cheats.”
Along the way, Long did become a certified tax and business adviser, something he touts on his X account: “DM me to save 40% on your taxes. We have a new traunch of tax credits just out!”
Part of Long’s business since leaving Congress has been hawking pandemic-era employee retention tax credits, which has become such a magnet for fraud and improper claims that the IRS stopped processing new claims for a time. The House passed a bill earlier this year that would bar new claims, though it’s stalled in the Senate.
Senate Finance Chair Ron Wyden, D-Ore., who will become ranking member in January, in a statement pledged scrutiny of Long’s ties to promoting the controversial tax-credit program.
“There are a lot of reasons why former Congressman Billy Long is a bizarre choice for this role. What’s most concerning is that Mr. Long left office and jumped into the scam-plagued industry involving the Employee Retention Tax Credit,” Wyden said. He also questioned why Trump would cut short the term of current IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel, who would otherwise serve until November 2027.
Trump’s announcement on Truth Social praises Long’s experience in “helping Small Businesses navigate the complexities of complying with the IRS Rules and Regulations,” adding that he is the “ultimate ‘people person,’ well respected on both sides of the aisle.”
Just before he left Congress, he wrote that to be successful as he was in real estate, auctioneering and radio, one has to be “U.F.O., as I call it” — upbeat, friendly and open.
“As I reflect on the end of a 12 year career in Congress I probably have as many friends on the Democrat side of the aisle as I do the Republican side,” Long wrote. “I have one of the most conservative voting records of anyone in Congress so I don’t hardly ever vote the same as my Democrat friends but just because we don’t agree politically doesn’t mean we can’t be friends personally.”
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