IRS Criminal Chief Retires as Trump Spurs Leadership Shift (1)

IRS CEO Frank Bisignano is putting his stamp on the agency with a slew of exits at the top and new faces friendly to the Trump administration in key roles.

Bisignano, who has a dual position as Social Security Commissioner, is now also co-leading IRS tax compliance, he announced in an organizational overhaul filling many vacant and acting positions at the agency. New leadership includes those with ties to congressional Republicans and Elon Musk’s bid to shrink the federal workforce.

The moves are the latest shuffling after the agency lost about a quarter of its workforce — including many of its top leaders —last year to Trump administration incentives to leave the government. That includes seven people acting or serving as IRS commissioner last year alone.

Guy Ficco, chief of the IRS criminal investigation’s unit and a career IRS-CI employee, exits the agency after he took over as head of the enforcement arm in April 2024, overseeing over 3,000 employees. He will be replaced by Jarod Koopman, who is also co-chief tax compliance officer.

Gary Shapley, one of the whistleblowers testifying before Congress on the Hunter Biden tax case and briefly acting IRS commissioner, will serve as deputy chief of criminal investigation under Koopman. Shapley and another veteran IRS criminal investigation agent Joseph Ziegler, were promoted within the Treasury Department last year after they spoke out against the agency’s handling of the Hunter Biden tax investigation.

Ziegler is in a new position as chief of internal consulting at the IRS.

Shapley and Ziegler were championed by Republicans when they alleged the federal government slow-walked an investigation into Hunter Biden’s taxes.

Another Trump administration addition, Todd Newnam, who joined the Treasury Department at the beginning of last year as part of Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, is now chief financial officer, which also includes overseeing procurement, facilities, and privacy.

“To support this agenda, I am announcing updates to the IRS executive leadership team and an organizational structure where more functions will report directly to me, allowing for strengthened accountability, improved performance, and modernized service delivery,” Bisignano said in a memo seen by Bloomberg Tax.

Other shakeups include David Borden replacing acting John Hinding as chief of independent office of appeals and Alex Kweskin replacing chief human capital officer David Traynor, who was acting.

Dottie Romo, previously chief operating officer, is now chief risk and control officer. There is no longer a chief operating officer on the new organizational chart.

Some members of the previous organizational chart remain with Erin Collins as National Taxpayer Advocate, Amy Klonsky as chief of communications and liaison, Ken Corbin as chief of taxpayer services, Kaschit Pandya as chief information officer, Reza Rashidi as chief data and analytics officer, and Carolyn Singh as chief of staff.

Since the start of the Trump administration, IRS agents have been asked to help with immigration enforcement efforts and the federalizing the police in Washington. There was also intense pressure to share taxpayer data with the Department of Homeland Security and scrutinize tax-exempt groups.

The IRS didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.