President Donald Trump removed Gary Shapley as acting commissioner of the IRS, Internal Revenue Service, only three days after his appointment, following a conflict with Elon Musk and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. As Reuters reports, Musk had appointed Shapley–known for testifying as a whistleblower in the Hunter Biden tax case–through his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), without consulting Bessent, who directly oversees the agency.
This sparked strong internal tensions as Bessent accused Musk of bypassing his authority. In response, Bessent asked Donald Trump to revoke Shapley’s appointment, leading to his replacement with Michael Faulkender, current deputy Treasury secretary and professor of finance at the University of Maryland. He previously worked at the Treasury Department during Trump’s first term.
The affair highlights recent contrasts between the Trump administration and the increasingly political figure of Elon Musk, who through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) he runs has been accused of influencing government operations. The rapid succession of changes at the top of the IRS is a clear sign of the growing tensions and instability within the agency.
This situation is part of a broader context of tax reforms and public workforce reductions, with the Trump administration and Elon Musk aiming to significantly reduce the federal workforce, raising concerns among labor unions and tax experts about the IRS’s effectiveness in combating tax evasion.
