Trump Dismisses IRS Commissioner, One Week After Firing BLS Head
Billy Long served only two months in his role as head of the IRS.

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Updated Aug. 8.
Today, President Donald Trump fired Billy Long, the head of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), after the former GOP congressman served just two months in the role.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has been appointed acting head of the IRS.
Long’s ousting follows months of unrest in the agency, including a mass exodus of workers. Six people have led the IRS this year, including Gary Shapley, who served only two days in the position. It’s unclear who will take on the job next.
Long was a controversial pick, having been involved with a firm that distributed a fraudulent tax credit program. As a congressman, he also supported a proposal to abolish the IRS.
However, Long isn’t out of the picture entirely. Shortly after the announcement of his departure, Long said in a statement that he was excited to begin a new ambassadorship in Iceland.
Trump drops labor statistics chief over weak jobs report
On Aug. 1, President Donald Trump fired Erika McEntarfer, the Biden-appointed head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, after accusing her of manipulating data to damage his administration. Trump provided no supporting evidence for his claim.
McEntarfer’s dismissal followed a worse-than-expected jobs report for July that included significant downward revisions to the number of jobs added in May and June — down by 258,000. The White House claimed the BLS numbers were “unreliable” due to large revisions.
Criticism was swift as economists, media, lawmakers and critics slammed the move and questioned whether economic data produced by the U.S. government would be credible moving forward.
On Aug. 3, Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers said on ABC News’ “This Week” that an official manipulating jobs report data was “preposterous” adding, “These numbers are put together by teams of literally hundreds of people following detailed procedures that are in manuals. There’s no conceivable way that the head of the BLS could have manipulated this number.” He added that the numbers in the jobs report are in line with those of private sector data sources, adding that the firing “is the stuff of democracies giving way to authoritarianism.”
Also on Aug. 3, on CNN’s “State of the Union,” William Beach, the former BLS Commissioner during Trump’s first term, explained why the president’s claim that McEntarfer couldn’t have manipulated data. “There’s no way for that to happen,” he said. “The commissioner doesn’t do anything to collect the numbers. The commissioner doesn’t see the numbers until Wednesday before they’re published. By the time the commissioner sees the numbers, they’re all prepared, they’re locked into the computer system. The only thing the commissioner does on Wednesday is to kind of do the edits on the text so there’s no hands-on at all for the commissioner.”
On Aug. 4, Trump doubled down on his claim, posting on Truth Social, “Last weeks Job’s Report was RIGGED” and said he would pick “an exceptional replacement.”
Most Americans disapprove of Trump’s economy, tariffs, inflation
Emerson College (July 21-22): About half (51%) of Americans say they disapprove of President Donald Trump’s job performance when it comes to the economy.
Gallup (July 7-21): For July, about 37% of Americans approve of the way Trump is handling the economy, compared to 41% in March and 42% in January.
Fox News (July 18-21): More than half (55%) of Americans say they disapprove of Trump’s handling of the economy. Some 62% say they disapprove of Trump’s handling of both inflation and tariffs.
CBS News/YouGov (July 16-18): Seven in 10 says Trump isn’t focusing enough on lowering prices, while 61% say he’s focusing too much on tariffs. Some 36% of Americans approve of Trump’s handling of inflation, compared to 39% in June and 46% in March.
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Since February, Trump has announced sweeping tariffs affecting virtually all U.S. trade partners. For details, see:
Since President Donald Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, he has wasted no time putting his stamp on the economy. His economic agenda has unfolded via a barrage of executive orders that included mass layoffs of federal workers, department closures, sweeping tariff declarations, as well as sudden reversals of those declarations.
Trump’s rapid-fire actions have roiled financial markets and rattled consumer confidence. What remains uncertain is if the turbulence caused by his economic policies will spark a recession, as some economists have predicted.
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