According to Bloomberg Tax, taxpayer advocates are closely monitoring last week’s decision to name Social Security Administration (SSA) Commissioner Frank Bisignano as IRS CEO and have many questions with regards to what it could mean for the tax agency.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Oct. 6 that he was creating a new IRS CEO position. Bloomberg Tax reported that, although Republicans in Congress appeared to be supportive in general, some of them stated that the White House should still name an IRS commissioner nominee since the tax agency is still operating without a permanent commissioner.

Additionally, the Treasury Department had made assurances to the staff of GOP Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley’s office that a commissioner nominee will still be sent to the Senate.

President of the National Taxpayers Union Pete Sepp was interviewed by Bloomberg Tax. During the interview, the taxpayer advocacy organization's president stated that Congress is correct to ask for answers regarding how the IRS CEO job will interact with Bisignano's current position as SSA commissioner. Sepp added that he hoped the CEO position, going forward, would be chosen by the IRS oversight board that has been dormant for over 10 years.

Deloitte said that, in the midst of a partial US government shutdown that has interrupted much of Washington's activities, the Senate Finance Committee last week advanced the nominations of Donald Korb and Derek Theurer for IRS and US Treasury roles, which has set the stage for possible floor votes that are still unscheduled.

Korb is President Donald Trump’s pick for IRS chief counsel and assistant general counsel at the Treasury. He cleared the Senate Finance Committee, positioning him to return—if confirmed—as the IRS’s top lawyer for a second term. 

Meanwhile, the Treasury said on Oct. 7 that Theurer joined the Department in January as Counselor and has been helping Bessent with global tax negotiations and the enactment of Trump’s tax cuts. Last March, he was nominated to be deputy undersecretary of the treasury for legislative affairs.

On top of the two nomination advancements, Deloitte said that the Senate Finance Committee also approved Jonathan Greenstein's nomination as the deputy undersecretary for International finance. The votes came just two days after Bisignano's appointment.

This positive turn on appointments is good new for Sepp, who is worried that many of the top IRS positions will remain unfilled.