Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has tapped the leader of the Social Security Administration, Frank Bisignano, to also oversee the day-to-day operations of the Internal Revenue Service in a new “chief executive officer” role at the tax agency.
Mr. Bessent has been serving as the acting commissioner of the I.R.S. since August, when he became the seventh person to lead the tax collector this year. Along with the extraordinary turnover among the executive ranks, the Trump administration has also pushed out roughly 26,000 I.R.S. employees this year, about a quarter of the work force.
The turmoil has raised concerns about whether the I.R.S. will be able to smoothly execute next year’s filing season, the annual period when millions of Americans seek tax refunds. Republicans are hoping that Americans will notice larger tax refunds created by the tax law they passed over the summer, a potential political boost that dysfunction at the I.R.S. could jeopardize.
Mr. Bisignano is a Wall Street veteran who led Fiserv, a payments processing company. In an email to employees of the Social Security Administration, Mr. Bisignano said he had previously held multiple roles at once and that his new job at the I.R.S. would not affect Social Security’s operations, according to a copy of the email viewed by The New York Times. Mr. Bessent said in a statement that Mr. Bisignano had an “exceptional track record of driving growth and efficiency.”
Installing Mr. Bisignano at the I.R.S. is a sign that the Trump administration may avoid trying anytime soon to formally nominate someone to receive Senate confirmation and lead the agency. President Trump’s first pick to lead the I.R.S., the former Republican congressman Billy Long, ultimately lasted less than two months in the job after the Senate confirmed him. Mr. Bessent and other Treasury officials quickly concluded he was not up to the task and moved to oust him.
Andrew Duehren covers tax policy for The Times from Washington.
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