Senate confirms Biden’s IRS nominee Daniel Werfel
By Sydney Kashiwagi, CNN
Updated 1:08 PM EST, Thu March 9, 2023
The Senate voted Thursday to confirm Daniel Werfel, the former acting commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, to lead the IRS.
He was approved on a bipartisan 54-42 vote.
Werfel’s confirmation to the agency comes after he was grilled by the Senate Committee on Finance last month on how he plans to utilize the money in new funding coming to the IRS over the next decade to revitalize the tax agency as taxpayers could see increased audit rates. Democrats approved the $80 billion for the agency last year when they approved the Inflation Reduction Act in a party-line vote. Democrats backed the funding in its bid to crack down on tax dodgers and to provide better services for taxpayers, arguing that the IRS could boost federal revenue by more than $100 billion over the 10-year time period if they collect more in taxes.
But Republicans have made the IRS and the new funding a political target, claiming that the money will create additional audits for taxpayers.
After Republicans took control of the House earlier this year, two of the party’s first legislative votes were aimed at the IRS. One bill called for rescinding roughly all the new funding for the agency and others called for abolishing the IRS altogether. However, it is highly unlikely that either bill will become law because Democrats still control the Senate.
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https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/09/politics/senate-confirms-daniel-werfel-irs-commissioner/index.html
