Bessent drops acting IRS title but keeps control

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has reached the 210-day limit set by the Federal Vacancies Reform Act and is no longer the acting IRS commissioner. On March 13, 2026, the IRS announced that Bessent’s acting service had ended, but he will keep handling the commissioner’s responsibilities until the position is filled. Meanwhile, IRS CEO Frank Bisignano is still in charge of daily operations.

This matters because changing the title does not fix the main problem: the position is still vacant. It raises a legal question about who has the authority to lead the IRS when there is no Senate-confirmed commissioner or nominee.

The Law in Play

The Federal Vacancies Reform Act, especially 5 U.S.C. § 3346, usually lets an acting official serve for 210 days after a job becomes vacant, unless a nomination is sent to the Senate. The main issue is whether the administration can keep the same person in charge by removing the “acting” title but letting them keep doing the job.

The administration says the Treasury secretary already supervises Treasury bureaus like the IRS, and that it is common practice to change titles when the FVRA time limit ends. Critics say this move goes against the Senate-confirmation process by letting someone keep doing the job after the legal acting period is over.

Timeline

• August 8, 2025: President Trump removed IRS Commissioner Billy Long, and Bessent became acting commissioner.

• October 2025: Frank Bisignano was appointed to the newly created IRS CEO role, overseeing daily agency operations.

• March 6, 2026: The 210-day FVRA period from the August 8 vacancy expired. Senate Democrats publicly warned that Bessent’s acting service had ended.

• March 10, 2026: Public reporting outlined the legal risk if Bessent continued as acting commissioner beyond the limit.

• March 13, 2026: The IRS formally said Bessent is no longer serving as acting commissioner but will continue performing the role’s functions and duties.

• Present: The commissioner post remains vacant, there is no current nominee, and the same vacancies issue is approaching for IRS Chief Counsel Ken Kies in mid-June.

The Larger Story

The real issue is not the titles, but how the IRS is managed without steady leadership. Since early 2025, the agency has seen several top officials come and go, and Treasury has added new management roles like the IRS CEO, which is separate from the commissioner. This approach helps keep things running, but it makes it unclear who has the legal authority.

This situation highlights a key challenge in today’s tax administration. The government wants things to run smoothly, but the vacancies law sets a time limit and requires Senate confirmation. When administrations use workarounds like assigning “functions and duties,” they avoid gaps in leadership, but they also risk claims that decisions were made by someone without proper legal authority. It shows how complicated these systems can get.

Whats Next

The next important step is not a court decision, but whether the White House names a nominee for IRS commissioner or chief counsel. This would affect how the FVRA applies to these roles. Until then, the agency will keep working with Bessent in charge of main functions and Bisignano handling daily operations.

One More Thing

The main question right now is not if the IRS has someone leading it, but whether that leader’s role fits what the vacancies law allows.