The likely next head of the Internal Revenue Service refuses to say whether President Trump is allowed to use the agency to strip organizations of their nonprofit status as he sees fit.
Senator Elizabeth Warren had IRS commissioner nominee Billy Long visibly shaken with a series of questions during his confirmation hearing Tuesday regarding the legality of Trump levying the IRS against nonprofit groups he doesn’t like.
“I sent you the statute, you’ve had three weeks to talk to the lawyers about it. So let’s jump in. Mr. Long, is it illegal for the president to direct the IRS to revoke a taxpayer’s nonprofit status?”
“In the first place, he wouldn’t do that—”
“That’s not my question, Mr. Long, please don’t start down this—”
“Are we on section 72-12 or 72-17?”
“I’m at 26 U.S.C 72-17. Do I need to read it to you?”
“Prohibits any member of the executive branch to request the IRS to conduct or terminate an audit on a taxpayer,” Long read aloud from the statue.
“Alrighty. So is it illegal?”
“I’m gonna follow the law, and if that’s the law, yes.”
“That is the law, so I just want to be clear, is it illegal for the president of the United States to instruct the IRS to remove a taxpayer’s nonprofit status?”
Long recited the statute again in response.
WARREN: Can POTUS legally tell the IRS to change someone’s nonprofit status?BILLY LONG: I’m not able to answerWARREN: You can’t read these words and tell me what those words say?!LONG: I can read the statute and I didWARREN: Then tell me what they mean! pic.twitter.com/LKHkEeXsAE
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 20, 2025
“Is that a yes?” Warren pressed.
“I’d have to go to the lawyers at the IRS to tell me.”
“Come on, you just read it!”
“I know, but see, the instance that you’re speaking about in there, correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t see …” he tailed off.
“Look, it says ‘it shall be unlawful for any applicable person’—which in this case includes the president—‘to request directly or indirectly, any officer or employee of the Internal Revenue Service to conduct or terminate an audit or other investigation of any particular taxpayer.’” Warren asked Long once again if what Trump has already threatened to do is illegal.
“I’m not gonna have the answer that you need, and I apologize, but like I said—”
“Why are you not having the answer? You’ve had three weeks to consult with lawyers, the statute is about as clear as plain English—”
“Well if I say I’m gonna follow the law, why would you need to ask me the question?”
“Because I wanna make sure that you understand what the law says. If you think ‘follow the law’ means you just get to make it up on the spot, then you don’t get to be the IRS commissioner. The point here is to follow the law as it is written.… Can the president of the United States legally tell the IRS to change someone’s nonprofit status?”
Long again refused to answer.
Warren and Long continued to spar, with Warren getting more frustrated and Long getting more flustered as neither of them got anywhere with their questioning and Long refused to plainly state that he wouldn’t let his future boss force him to break the law.
“You know, Mr. Long, you’d have a lot more credibility if you just say ‘yes.’ It’s clear that the statute makes it illegal for the president to direct the IRS vis-à-vis any particular taxpayer. And the fact that you wanna sit there and dance around about this tells me that you shouldn’t be within a thousand miles of the directorship of the IRS.”
“You shouldn’t be within a thousand miles of the directorship of the IRS” — Elizabeth Warren grilled IRS commissioner nominee Billy Long so hard that he was left stammering and shaking by the end of her questioning pic.twitter.com/yXWlkClj8l
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 20, 2025
Trump has repeatedly threatened to strip universities like Harvard of their nonprofit status. Meanwhile, Republicans in Congress are working to give him more power to kill just about any nonprofit he disagrees with .
The post Trump’s IRS Pick Turns Into Babbling Mess as Senator Warren Grills Him appeared first on New Republic.
