Trump Ally Tapped as Acting IRS Top Lawyer in Leadership Shakeup (1)

A Trump ally in the IRS’s legal arm is expected to take over as the top lawyer in the division, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The shakeup comes as billionaire Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency has sought access to taxpayer data as it seeks to shrink the size of the federal government, with a goal of slicing the IRS workforce in half.

President Donald Trump is expected to appoint Andrew De Mello, a lawyer in Chief Counsel’s Office, as the acting IRS chief counsel, succeeding William Paul, who also was serving in an acting capacity.

Paul told an internal meeting earlier Thursday that he was being reassigned because allies of Musk viewed him as being uncooperative.

Democrats are raising alarms over access by Musk’s team to the Treasury Department’s payment system, the IRS, and the Social Security Administration.

The IRS last month was poised to hand over unlimited access to taxpayer data to Musk adviser Gavin Kliger of the Office of Personnel Management, who visited the agency to meet with IT and compliance staff.

The chief counsel position is one of two IRS Senate-confirmed positions, in addition to the commissioner. The White House hasn’t formally nominated someone for the chief counsel role. De Mello’s appointment is expected to be announced by the White House under the Vacancies Act, Paul said Thursday and according to a person familiar who shared the information with Bloomberg Tax.

The IRS declined to comment.

De Mello was tapped in the last Trump administration to be inspector general of the Education Department, though he didn’t get confirmed. He also was a Justice Department tax trial attorney and was on detail to the Inspector General’s Office at the Department of Homeland Security.

De Mello will step in as the third person to lead the division in a year, after former President Joe Biden’s confirmed pick, Majorie Rollinson, left in January and Paul temporarily filled the position.

The IRS chief counsel leads the office that crafts regulations and other guidance, advises other divisions of the IRS during audits, and provides general legal services to the agency.

Paul, who served as acting chief counsel during periods in both the Biden and first Trump administration, is expected to return back to his position as IRS’s principal deputy chief counsel.

Melanie Krause, a career IRS official with a long history of government service, in late February become the third person to lead the IRS since the start of the year.

Krause became acting IRS commissioner following the planned retirement of former acting head, Doug O’Donnell, a longtime IRS official.