This week, we're looking away from Capitol Hill and down to the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue to review a roster of important tax policy people and positions in the new Trump administration.

White House

The White House's tax team is largely in place. The nine-member National Economic Council (NEC) is fully staffed and includes Drew Lyon as special assistant to the president for economic policy. He will focus almost exclusively on tax policy. Lyon served in the Department of the Treasury under President George W. Bush and in the White House under President George H.W. Bush. He's no stranger to Congress, having served as a staff member of the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT). 

Treasury

Although the NEC is a White House office headed by Director Kevin Hassett, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent may have more policy control than his predecessor in the first Trump administration, Steve Mnuchin. In 2017, much of the major tax policy decisions were handled by White House NEC Director Gary Cohn. 

Bessent's second in command at Treasury is Michael Faulkender, who served as Assistant Treasury Secretary for Economic Policy in the first Trump administration. His nomination to be Deputy Secretary won approval last week on a 53-43 vote. 

Derek Theurer will have the ear of Bessent as Counselor to the Secretary specializing in tax policy. Theurer was also officially nominated as Deputy Under Secretary last week. He previously advised Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) on taxes and served as Chief Tax Counsel to House Committee on Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO). Mason Champion, a veteran of both the House and Senate, is in place as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs.

Bessent will also have the overseas technical expertise of Rebecca Burch as Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Tax Affairs. In that role, she will be the lead Treasury official representing the U.S. at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which is working on a two-pillar proposal to reallocate the multi-jurisdictional taxation of large multinationals and impose a global minimum tax. 

One glaring vacancy is the top tax position at Treasury. Ken Kies is waiting in the wings for a Senate confirmation hearing as the president's nominee for Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy. Kies is a former Chief of Staff of the JCT and served as Chief Counsel to the House Committee on Ways and Means. 

Internal Revenue Service (IRS)

At the IRS, the Commissioner and Chief Counsel are the only two Senate-confirmed positions. The president's nominee to head the IRS, former Rep. Billy Long (R-MO), is awaiting a confirmation hearing in the Senate Committee on Finance. 

IRS Chief Operating Officer Melanie Krause is currently serving as Acting Commissioner. She replaced Doug O'Donnell as Acting Commissioner and is the third person to head the agency so far this year. Earlier this month, the Trump administration replaced Acting Chief Counsel William Paul with Andrew DeMello, an attorney in the Chief Counsel's office and a former member of the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Tax Division. DeMello will likely hold the position until the president nominates a candidate as a permanent replacement.

Other new IRS appointments include Edward Killen as Acting Chief Taxpayer Compliance Officer. He replaces Heather Maloy, who was the first to serve in that role since the IRS restructured itself after the Biden administration's IRS funding boost. Killen is also the current head of the Tax-Exempt & Government Entities Division. 

These individuals will be leading the administration's efforts to achieve the president's tax policy agenda – first as legislation, followed by its implementation and broader regulatory agenda. #TaxTake

In the News

Marc discussed the key reconciliation bill challenges in Tax Notes, saying success hinges on three factors: "Can they go with a current-policy baseline, can they satisfy the procedural hurdles, and can they somehow figure out a way to get it through the House?"
 

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