“The American people deserved better,” Issue One says after Senate confirms Billy Long to lead the IRS

Following today’s Senate vote along party lines confirming former Rep. Billy Long (R-MO) to lead the IRS, Issue One released the following statement:

“It’s deeply disappointing that a majority of the Senate has confirmed former Rep. Billy Long to be the next head of the IRS, given the bribery concerns about him that Issue One helped bring to light,” said Issue One Senior Research Director Michael Beckel.

“Not until Long was nominated to head the IRS was anyone interested in helping him pay off $130,000 in outstanding personal loans to his failed 2022 Senate campaign. But after his nomination, donors came out of the woodwork to help him pay off this debt, knowing the money would help line Long’s own pockets, including executives at companies that have been accused of selling fraudulent tax credits,” Beckel continued.

“This brazen act of corruption should have disqualified Long from leading the IRS,” Beckel added. “Using his position of power for personal financial gain erodes confidence in an agency that is already a target of scorn. The American people deserved better.”

Background

On Dec. 4, 2024, Trump nominated Long to lead the IRS. At the time, Long’s campaign committee from his failed 2022 Senate bid had $130,000 in debt — money that Long had loaned his unsuccessful campaign.

In the days that followed, Long’s campaign committee raised $28,000 and his still-active leadership PAC raised $45,000. Then, in early January, his Senate campaign committee raised another $137,000 — enabling Long to eliminate his debt by paying himself back, as Issue One previously highlighted.

Much of this money came from business executives at companies that have been accused of selling fraudulent tax credits. And one of these donors was attorney Mark Czuchry, a partner at the financial firm Lifetime Advisors (one of the companies accused of selling fraudulent tax credits) who, like Long, has worked for the Office of Management and Budget in the wake of Trump’s election.

Without these contributions, Long may have had to eat the cost of these loans to his unsuccessful 2022 Senate campaign.

In the wake of this startling news, several Democratic senators raised concerns that these contributions may violate federal anti-bribery laws. Former Rep. Claudine Schneider (R-RI), a member of Issue One’s ReFormers Caucus, also called on senators on both sides of the aisle to oppose Long’s nomination.

“Long’s concerning conduct should disqualify him from leading the IRS,” Schneider wrote in an op-ed published in The Hill. “Leading the IRS is an important task, and one that cannot be politicized. All taxpayers deserve fair treatment, and the agency must be an impartial arbiter of tax collection and tax law enforcement.”