WASHINGTON — The head of the IRS largely declined to answer questions about recent unlawful disclosures of taxpayer data when he was questioned by lawmakers at a congressional hearing on Wednesday, saying they happened before his tenure began.
IRS CEO Frank Bisignano faced the House Ways and Means Committee to speak about the agency’s progress in serving taxpayers as the 2026 tax season is in full swing. It was his first time facing lawmakers in his role as leader of the IRS after being named to the newly created CEO position last October. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent remains acting commissioner of the IRS.
In prepared remarks, Bisignano focused on the Internal Revenue Service’s implementation of Republicans’ sweeping tax and spending law, which includes eliminating taxes on tips and overtime, exempting certain car loan interest, creating a deduction for older adults and launching Trump Accounts for children’s savings.
However, several Democratic lawmakers zeroed in on a federal judge’s finding that the IRS broke the law by disclosing confidential taxpayer information “approximately 42,695 times” to Immigration and Customs Enforcement as part of an agreement between the IRS and the Department of Homeland Security to share information on immigrants for the purpose of identifying and deporting people illegally in the U.S. Immigration and border security are a major part of the agenda of President Trump, a Republican.
“Was anyone fired? Was anyone disciplined? Was anyone held accountable? Was anyone held to account?” Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.) asked Bisignano.
Bisignano cited ongoing litigation and declined to answer questions about the disclosures, adding, “I don’t want to debate the numbers.”
U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly found last month that the IRS unlawfully shared the taxpayer information of thousands of people with immigration enforcement.
There are several ongoing cases that challenge the IRS-Homeland Security agreement. Two court orders have blocked the agencies from massive transfers of taxpayer information and blocked ICE from acting on any IRS data in its possession. Those preliminary injunctions are still in place.
Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.) said, “This is a catastrophic leadership failure and a huge hit on the public’s confidence in your integrity.”
Bisignano, who also serves as the Social Security Administration’s commissioner, responded, “Obviously all these events occurred before my tenure.” But he added it was “my responsibility to get it right.”
A data-sharing agreement signed last April by Bessent and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem allows ICE to submit names and addresses of immigrants inside the U.S. illegally to the IRS for cross-verification against tax records. The deal led the then-acting commissioner of the IRS to resign.
During the hearing, Democrats also questioned Bisignano on the IRS’ recent decision to cut union contracts with its workers. Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.) contended that “by terminating the union contract it makes it easier to take apart the IRS.”
Bisignano, who is the son of a former Treasury Department worker, said, “Federal employees under statute have greater benefits than any union in the world can provide for their people.”
“They’re losing nothing,” he said.
Hussein writes for the Associated Press.
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