Sen. Ron Wyden (Ore.), the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, said Tuesday he has recordings of business associates of President Trump’s pick to lead the IRS, former Rep. Billy Long (R-Mo.), saying they expect to get favors from him once he is in office.
Wyden cited recordings of two instances of people saying they expect to receive favorable treatment from Long.
“Our staff investigators have on tape now tax promoters saying you met with them at the inauguration and promised [them] a favorable private letter ruling,” Wyden said Tuesday during Long’s confirmation hearing in the Senate Finance Committee.
Long has worked as a tax credit promoter, an industry that pushed tax credits to businesses as the government sent out $5 trillion in rescue stimulus during the pandemic.
Wyden’s revelation about the recordings came at the end of Long’s confirmation hearing and Long was not given a chance to respond, though he defended his work as a tax promoter throughout the hearing, specifically with regard to the disputed “tribal” tax credits.
“My only involvement in this matter … was to connect interested friends of mine … just friends, if they had any interest,” Long said.
The first recording mentioned by Wyden concerns an alleged “promise” made by the former lawmaker to tax promoters about a favorable ruling from the IRS. The other concerns “favorable treatment” for a company called White River Energy that had Long on its payroll regarding a “tribal tax credit” that is in dispute.
“We also have on tape the White River CFO, who gave you the thousands of dollars, that he expects favorable treatment of these fake tribal tax credits,” Wyden said.
Long, who received $65,000 from White River, according to the Senate Finance Committee, said he “never talked to anybody” at the company but instead worked “through” a company called Capitol Edge Strategies. Long couldn’t name the Native American tribe on behalf of which he facilitated the sale of the disputed tribe tax credit.
“I worked through Capitol Edge Strategies. I didn’t work through – I never talked to anybody at White River. I don’t even know anybody at White River, and I don’t have any way to know who the tribe is even,” he said.
While Democrats homed in Long’s potential transgressions along with how he would respond to requests from the president, Republicans said they appreciated Long’s work in the private sector, saying it makes him a good advocate for small businesses.
“What he will do is bring a fresh and much needed perspective to the IRS,” Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) said. “Before entering public service, he was a small business owner and professional auctioneer – careers that grounded him in the real world challenges that everyday small business owners … face.”
Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee released a detailed statement on Tuesday of the relationship between White River Energy and Long. In their account, White River sold phony tax credits to investors and then reassured them that they’d have friends in the IRS who’d be able to “take the heat off.”
Immediately after their credits were outed as fake, the company started donating to Long’s inactive Senate campaign, Finance Committee Democrats said.
“Shortly thereafter, in mid-January, the folks down at White River decided it was time to whip out their checkbooks and start donating to Congressman Long’s long-dormant Senate campaign. It still had outstanding debt dating back two and a half years. More than $165,000 poured into the campaign coffers, the vast majority of it from tribal tax credit promoters, including people at White River,” they wrote.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment .
White River Energy did not immediately respond to questions about any previous interactions with Long or why they allegedly paid him $65,000.
During Long’s confirmation hearing, Democrats focused on Long’s work as a tax credit promoter.
“You have a blatant conflict of interest here, having received payment for marketing [tax credits],” Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) said during the hearing.
The IRS has seen a string of different commissioners since President Trump took office. Usually, IRS commissioners are permitted to serve out their terms as nonpartisan civil servants but former IRS commissioner Danny Werfel resigned just before Trump’s term started after he promised to fire him.
Since Werfel, the IRS has been led by career agents Doulas O’Donnell, Melanie Krause and Gary Shapley, all of whom left amid controversies, including a power struggle between Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and presidential adviser Elon Musk and the outside access of a government cost-cutting panel to sensitive taxpayer data.
The IRS has pulled a 180-degree turn since the Biden administration, which authorized an $80 billion overhaul and major hiring initiative for the national tax collection office, which was clawed back by Republicans.
The Trump administration has undertaken large-scale layoffs at the agency, specifically targeting new tax compliance hires. One report suggested the agency could lose as much as 40 percent of its workforce due to layoffs, hiring pauses, and regular retirement in the coming years.
“The IRS is at a crossroads, and we need a leader who doesn’t just talk about modernization but who can get the job done,” Blackburn said during the hearing.
