IRS commissioner nominee Chuck Rettig told Congress Thursday that his top priority as head of the tax agency would be to rebuild the trust it has lost.
“My overriding goal will be to strengthen and rebuild trust between the IRS, the American people, and their representatives in Congress,” Rettig said at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee.
The Beverly Hills tax lawyer said he has experienced the problems with the agency’s service first-hand, and that he would not allow the IRS’ failures to be viewed just as “facts of life.”
Senators asked Rettig about his capabilities and readiness to move from running a law firm with at most 35 employees to a major agency with more than 70,000, and his plans for implementing the major tax overhaul signed by President Trump in December.
Aside from the normal business of the IRS, the hearing focused on Rettig’s relationship with Trump, thanks to Democrats’ questions.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat, asked Rettig directly if he had made a loyalty pledge to Trump.
Rettig answered that he had not, and later added that he intended to be “staunchly independent, or more so.”
On Wednesday, Politico reported that Rettig owned properties at a Trump-branded hotel in Hawaii, and hadn’t initially disclosed those holdings.
Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, the ranking Democrat on the committee, said the lack of disclosure made it especially important for Rettig to establish his independence.
Over the course of the hearing, however, Rettig faced little skepticism or opposition from Democrats.
The IRS is being run on an interim basis by David Kautter, a Trump appointee who is also the Treasury Department’s assistant secretary for tax policy.
