- The acting commissioner of the IRS was fired Friday after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reportedly complained to President Donald Trump that DOGE cost-cutter in chief Elon Musk did not ask for approval to name Gary Shapley as the agency’s leader. Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Michael Faulkender is expected to take Shapley’s place. Shapley, a longtime IRS agent, was nominated Tuesday after former interim leader Melanie Krause resigned because the IRS was required to disclose taxpayer information to immigration officials.
The interim commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service was ousted Friday after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reportedly complained to President Donald Trump that the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, had instituted the new leader without his knowledge, five unnamed people told the New York Times.
Although the tax-collection agency reports to Bessent, the Treasury secretary felt that Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) had gone behind his back to put Gary Shapley in power as acting head of the IRS. While DOGE pushed Shapley’s nomination through the White House, Bessent was not consulted for his approval, the people said.
Bessent then received Trump’s consent to upend the nomination.
The IRS and the White House declined to provide comment, referring Fortune to the Treasury Department. The Treasury Department did not immediately respond to Fortune’s request for comment.
The role of overseeing the IRS has been a carousel of stand-ins during the Trump administration, and Deputy Secretary of the Treasury, Michael Faulkender, is expected to be the next to take the reins—again, on an interim basis.
Faulkender would be the fifth acting head to take over the agency until the president’s nominee for the permanent role, former congressman Billy Long, takes over, which is contingent on Senate approval.
Shapley, the tenured IRS agent who was appointed to run the revenue service on Tuesday, was lionized by conservatives after providing whistleblower testimony to Congress that the Justice Department slow-walked the Hunter Biden investigation.
Shapley was named to take charge of the agency Tuesday after the previous acting head, Melanie Krause, resigned. Krause stepped down last week after the Treasury Department and the Department of Homeland Security didn’t include her in an agreement that mandated the IRS provide taxpayer data to immigration officials.
“It’s no secret President Trump has put together a team of people who are incredibly passionate about the issues impacting our country,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told the New York Times. “Disagreements are a normal part of any healthy policy process, and ultimately everyone knows they serve at the pleasure of President Trump.”
This is just the latest report of discord between Musk and other Trump officials. Last month, Musk and Secretary of State Marco Rubio exchanged verbal jabs during a cabinet meeting after Musk’s DOGE had effectively shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development, which was under Rubio’s oversight. About 10 days ago, Musk also called senior trade advisor Peter Navarro “a moron” on social media; Navarro later told NBC News that “Elon and I are great.”
