The Trump administration has sent a clear message: protecting illegal immigrants from enforcement will not be tolerated. Former IRS Commissioner Billy Long has been removed from his position after refusing to fully cooperate with the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) request to use taxpayer data to help locate tens of thousands of suspected illegal aliens.
The dispute came to a head after DHS sent the IRS a list of roughly 40,000 names believed to belong to individuals living in the U.S. illegally. DHS asked the IRS to use confidential taxpayer data to verify addresses. Shockingly, the IRS confirmed fewer than 3% of the names — a failure that Trump allies see as stonewalling a key immigration enforcement initiative.
Long, a former congressman, dug in his heels, insisting the IRS would only share information strictly within the narrow limits of its pre-existing agreements with DHS. That stance directly conflicted with a new directive from President Trump that dramatically expanded ICE’s ability to request sensitive information to track and remove illegal aliens.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will now take over the IRS on an interim basis, and a new commissioner will be named soon. In a carefully worded statement, the Treasury Department thanked Long for his service but made no attempt to hide that the administration is ready to move in a different direction — one more aligned with the President’s aggressive border enforcement agenda.
The firing comes against the backdrop of Trump’s sweeping overhaul of the IRS. In just six months, the agency’s workforce has been slashed by 25%, reversing Joe Biden’s \$80 billion IRS expansion plan. On the campaign trail, Trump promised to rein in what many Americans see as one of the most unpopular and heavy-handed agencies in Washington — and he’s delivering.
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration outlined how the administration has been shrinking the IRS through voluntary resignation programs, early retirement offers, and separation incentives. In April 2025, the agency even began formal Reduction in Force (RIF) actions, signaling that the cuts are far from over.
Trump’s supporters view the IRS shake-up as a double victory: dismantling a bloated bureaucracy while ensuring that taxpayer-funded agencies actually work to enforce immigration law, not undermine it. Critics — including the National Taxpayer Advocate — claim the IRS needs more staff to function properly. But for the administration, the priority is clear: make the IRS leaner, more accountable, and willing to assist in protecting American sovereignty.
The message from the White House could not be clearer: under Trump, federal agencies are expected to serve the American people — and that includes cooperating in the removal of those who have broken the nation’s immigration laws. For Billy Long, choosing bureaucratic caution over decisive action against illegal immigration proved to be a career-ending mistake.
