This week, Melanie Krause stepped down as the acting head of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). This resignation comes as the third leadership change at the agency since the start of the new year. Her departure comes at an especially important moment. With tax season approaching its peak, the vast majority of people have to file their tax return by the April 15 deadline. Krause’s departure is in part her own doing—she’s resigning. Her decision is based on her opposition to a hotly debated, planned data-sharing agreement between the IRS and the Department of Homeland Security.
Krause’s resignation reflects the ongoing turbulence within the IRS, which has faced significant challenges, including workforce cuts that began on Friday and are projected to eliminate up to 25% of its employees. The agency is in the midst of a dramatic reconstruction. This move is behemoth in the larger restructuring of the federal workforce, which has seen more than 200,000 jobs eliminated through the independent departments already.
That new agreement, which granted the federal Department of Homeland Security (DHS) direct access to California’s taxpayer DMV data in order to help locate undocumented immigrants, has come under fire. Finalizing this agreement took the proactive involvement of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Krause tendered his resignation after hearing the advice from IRS attorneys. In response, they noted that the deal would likely break privacy laws and raised serious ethical concerns.
Krause, for his part, has decided to take advantage of a deferred resignation program the IRS provides. This decision underscores her desire to distance herself from the agency’s controversial recent turns. Her predecessor, Doug O’Donnell, resigned earlier this year after objecting to signing a similar data-sharing agreement.
“Melanie Krause has been leading the IRS through a time of extraordinary change,” noted a spokesperson from the Treasury. Krause has succeeded in a difficult environment, recently roiled with leadership turnover. This confluence has brought fierce and constant criticism of IRS policy.
Not that you’d know it from her leadership during this chaotic and dark era, because Krause didn’t pick up or respond for comment when immediately approached about her resignation. Increasing political pressure from within the agency boiled over to force her to resign. She said external public scrutiny was a huge factor in her decision.
Leave a Reply