IRS chief resigning after ICE deal on taxpayer data
Several IRS officials are stepping down after the tax agency is forced to share protected taxpayer records to further Trump's deportation drive
What happened
Acting IRS Commissioner Melanie Krause is stepping down, along with several other top officials at the tax agency, after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent signed a deal with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem that forces the IRS to share protected taxpayer records with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to further President Donald Trump's deportation drive, news organizations said Tuesday.
Who said what
Bessent and Noem signed the deal Monday, even after "IRS lawyers had counseled" that the plan "probably violates privacy law," but Krause only learned of it when Treasury representatives "released it to Fox News," The Washington Post said.
Krause was once seen as "aligned with Elon Musk's" DOGE but had become "uncomfortable with the direction of the IRS under the Trump administration," The New York Times said. She is the third IRS chief to leave during Trump's first three months in office. Her predecessor, Doug O’Donnell, "retired rather than clash with DOGE and immigration enforcement officials" seeking "broad access to confidential personal taxpayer data," the Post said.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The administration argued that ICE can access tax data for anyone who committed the crime of defying a court order to leave the U.S. Using "immigrants' tax data against them should send chills down the spine of every U.S. taxpayer who disagrees with this administration," said Lisa Gilbert of Public Citizen.
What next?
After years of IRS privacy guarantees, the data-sharing agreement will "discourage undocumented immigrants from paying taxes," Axios said, costing the government tens of billions of dollars a year in lost revenue and Social Security taxes.
-
6 of the world’s most accessible destinationsThe Week Recommends Experience all of Berlin, Singapore and Sydney
-
How the FCC’s ‘equal time’ rule worksIn the Spotlight The law is at the heart of the Colbert-CBS conflict
-
What is the endgame in the DHS shutdown?Today’s Big Question Democrats want to rein in ICE’s immigration crackdown
-
Witkoff and Kushner tackle Ukraine, Iran in GenevaSpeed Read Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner held negotiations aimed at securing a nuclear deal with Iran and an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine
-
Pentagon spokesperson forced out as DHS’s resignsSpeed Read Senior military adviser Col. David Butler was fired by Pete Hegseth and Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin is resigning
-
Judge orders Washington slavery exhibit restoredSpeed Read The Trump administration took down displays about slavery at the President’s House Site in Philadelphia
-
Hyatt chair joins growing list of Epstein files losersSpeed Read Thomas Pritzker stepped down as executive chair of the Hyatt Hotels Corporation over his ties with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell
-
ICE eyes new targets post-Minnesota retreatIn the Spotlight Several cities are reportedly on ICE’s list for immigration crackdowns
-
Judge blocks Hegseth from punishing Kelly over videoSpeed Read Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth pushed for the senator to be demoted over a video in which he reminds military officials they should refuse illegal orders
-
Trump’s EPA kills legal basis for federal climate policySpeed Read The government’s authority to regulate several planet-warming pollutants has been repealed
-
House votes to end Trump’s Canada tariffsSpeed Read Six Republicans joined with Democrats to repeal the president’s tariffs
