William Paul, the acting chief counsel of the IRS, was removed from his position last week, replaced by another IRS attorney, Andrew De Mello, who was nominated by President Donald Trump during his first term in the White House to be inspector general of the Education Department but wasn’t confirmed.
According to the Associated Press, Paul was demoted from his position because he clashed with the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency’s alleged push to gain access to sensitive tax databases. Paul said in an internal meeting on March 13 that he was being reassigned because allies of Musk viewed him as being uncooperative, Bloomberg Tax reported.
De Mello is said to be supportive of DOGE.
Paul, who had been serving as acting chief counsel since January following the retirement of Chief Counsel Marjorie Rollinson, is expected to return to his prior role as deputy chief counsel, technical, TaxNotes reported.
Paul is the third high-ranking IRS official who has been removed or voluntarily left his or her post in recent weeks. Douglas O’Donnell had been serving as acting IRS chief, following Danny Werfel’s resignation as commissioner on Jan. 20, but he retired on Feb. 28. IRS Chief Operating Officer Melanie Krause took over as the agency’s acting commissioner following O’Donnell’s retirement. In addition, Chief Human Capital Officer Traci DiMartini was placed on administrative leave pending termination on March 3 and was reportedly dismissed on March 5.
“Is the IRS perfect? Not even close. There is a LOT of room to improve customer service, operations, and enforcement (much of which is dependent on funding). And there are certainly employees who should be terminated for performance reasons. (Find me an agency or large company where that isn’t true.),” Tom Cullinan, a shareholder at law firm Chamberlain Hrdlicka who is a former counselor to the IRS commissioner and acting IRS chief of staff, wrote recently on LinkedIn. “But I’m glad that the IRS has people like Bill, Doug, and Traci, who put service, truth, and law before self. They have my sincere admiration, and I hope they serve as role models for other IRS employees. (Full disclosure: I worked closely with Bill and Doug when I worked at the IRS but never met Traci.)”
Former IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig, who led the agency during Trump’s first term as president, called Paul and O’Donnell “outstanding individuals from every perspective” in a post on LinkedIn. Rettig said he didn’t work with DiMartini as she started at the agency after his term as commissioner expired.
The chief counsel serves as the top legal advisor to the IRS commissioner, the Treasury Department, and taxpayers. The position, along with the commissioner, is appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate.
It’s unusual, however, for the role to be changed as the presidency changes hands. Paul had previously served as acting chief counsel under President Joe Biden and during Trump’s first term.
“I had never heard of a president firing a career acting chief counsel while awaiting Senate confirmation of the duly appointed chief counsel,” former IRS Commissioner John Koskinen told CNN. “In this case, it’s especially troubling since Bill Paul is a wonderful lawyer and a dedicated and devoted public servant.”
With Tribune News Service
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