Prepared Statement by U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa)
Senate Finance Committee Hearing:
Opening Executive Session to Consider the Nominations of The Honorable Daniel Werfel to be Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, Rebecca Haffajee to be an Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services, and Brent Neiman to be a Deputy Under Secretary of the Treasury 
Thursday, March 2, 2023
 
I intend to vote in support of the nomination of Daniel Werfel to be Commissioner of the IRS. However, my support comes with a very high level of expectation that he will follow through on his promises to be transparent and keep the public informed on how the IRS spends the extra roughly $80 billion it was provided last year.
 
Senator Thune and I, along with all Finance Committee Republicans, have filed the IRS Funding Accountability Act, which would require annual and quarterly reporting of spending of the $80 billion.
 
Just within the past few weeks, the IRS said it would miss Secretary Yellen’s six-month deadline to deliver an operational plan. Additionally, it remains unclear whether that plan will be made available to Congress and the public.  Aside from the critical need for oversight, the failure of the IRS to develop a plan for budget authority made available more than 6 months ago is deeply concerning.
 
Given its long history of mismanagement of billions in information technology resources and recent record poor levels of customer service, it’s important the IRS account for its planned spending and prioritize assisting taxpayers ahead of turning their lives upside down with speculative audits.
 
The IRS also needs to be able to assure taxpayers that it’s a trustworthy custodian of their information, and that individual taxpayers and tax-exempt organizations will not be treated differently, better or worse, because of any perceived political affiliation.
 
In nominating Mr. Werfel, I respect that the President has nominated someone with a great deal of federal government management experience, including service as Acting Commissioner of the IRS during another troubled time for the agency.
 
Many of his responses to written questions reflect the fact that he is not currently at the IRS.  However, due to his previous experience I expect there will be a very short learning curve. If confirmed, I expect him to immediately begin to deliver on his promises to be transparent and build trust.
 

 

If he is confirmed, I look forward to working closely with Mr. Werfel to fulfill his promises to be transparent and work closely with members of this Committee. My support today is a down payment on that expectation.