Lifetime Citizen Portal Access — AI Briefings, Alerts & Unlimited Follows
Nominee for IRS Chief Counsel Faces Questions Over Reported Staff Remarks on Resignation
Loading...
Summary
A member of the Senate Committee on Finance said Mr. Korb, nominated for IRS chief counsel, told bipartisan staff a recently resigned career official "should have been shot," and raised broader concerns about whether the nominee's comments indicate a political agenda at the agency.
An unidentified committee member (S1) told the Senate Committee on Finance that Mr. Korb, the nominee for IRS chief counsel, told bipartisan committee staff that a recently resigned career IRS official "should have been shot" for resigning. The committee member said those reported remarks, together with praise for Representative Billy Long, raised questions about whether Korb would treat the agency's legal work impartially.
The committee member said Korb brings 50 years of experience as a tax attorney and previously served as IRS chief counsel under President George W. Bush, and noted the chief counsel post is one of only two Senate-confirmed positions at the IRS. "His experience in tax law is not at issue," the committee member said, but added that staff had asked Korb about taxpayer privacy violations and other concerns that deserve close scrutiny.
The senator framed the privacy questions as particularly urgent given what the speaker described as the current administration's willingness to "weaponize the IRS," and said staff reports about Korb's comments created a need for the committee to probe his views on enforcement, privacy, and the independence of IRS career officials. The committee member said he would allow the nominee to respond during the hearing.
The committee did not at this point put any motion or vote on the nomination on the record in the provided transcript. No direct quotation from Mr. Korb appears in the transcript excerpt; the inflammatory phrasing is reported by the committee member as something Mr. Korb allegedly told staff.
