The U-S Senate on Thursday confirmed former southwest Missouri Congressman and former KWTO Radio host Billy Long to lead the Internal Revenue Service.
Long’s Senate confirmation vote was 53-44 along party lines.
Long’s ascension to the role makes him the fifth commissioner of the IRS since the beginning of this year.
The former 7th District Congressman takes over an agency that saw drastic cuts to its workforce under the White House Department of Government Efficiency.
Long, who served in the House from 2011 to 2023, was grilled by Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee during his confirmation hearing last month
Many of the Democrats questioned Long’s backing of legislation that would have abolished the IRS and replaced income tax with a national sales tax, and also his promotion of a pair of tax credits that raised questions of a possible conflict of interest.
During the hearing, Long said that as commissioner, he would have to make real, transformational change to an agency that needs it more than any other.”