President names new acting IRS commissioner

President Barack Obama on Thursday named Daniel Werfel acting commissioner of the IRS. Werfel is currently the controller and acting deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget, a job that has included overseeing federal spending cuts mandated by the sequester. Werfel’s appointment as acting commissioner will take effect on May 22.

The former acting IRS commissioner, Steven Miller, was forced to resign on Wednesday as a result of the ongoing scandal about the methods the IRS used to review applications for Sec. 501(c)(4) status. (See “Acting IRS commissioner out in tea party scandal.”)

In a prepared statement announcing the appointment, the president described Werfel as “an effective leader who serves with professionalism, integrity, and skill.”

Werfel has held multiple posts at the OMB, including deputy controller, chief of the Financial Integrity and Analysis Branch, budget examiner in the Education Branch, and policy analyst in the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. He was also a trial attorney in the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division.

—Alistair M. Nevius (anevius@aicpa.org) is the JofA’s editor-in-chief, tax.