[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 101 (Thursday, June 12, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3364-S3366]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                       Nomination of William Long

  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, in a few minutes, the Senate will vote on 
whether to put somebody who is up to their eyeballs in tax scams, 
corruption, and coverups in charge of the IRS. This ought to be an easy 
no.
  It is one corruption bombshell after another with former Congressman 
Billy Long--fake tax credits, scam tax advice, shadowy political 
donations that went straight into his pocket, promises of personal 
favors, and no-show jobs with high-paying Federal salaries.
  Yesterday came the latest revelation. My Finance Committee staff 
investigators determined that Long appears to be implicated in a major 
bribery scheme in his old congressional district. The scandal unfolded 
while he was in office.
  Twelve people in Missouri and Arkansas pled guilty or went to jail 
when these crimes were prosecuted. It was a criminal case the size of 
the Ozarks.
  Court documents identified him in one guilty plea as ``U.S. 
Representative #1.'' That is the guilty plea of a man named Donald 
Andrew Jones, D.A. Jones. Jones's prosecution involved kickbacks and 
other illicit payments, a network of executives, and the misuse of 
charity funds in Springfield, MO, his hometown. The Justice 
Department's summary of the case describes ``payments routed through 
different business entities or lobbying firms'' as well as D.A. Jones's 
``advocacy services, including direct contact with elected and 
appointed public officials.''
  The guilty plea describes multiple communications in which Jones said 
he interacted with Billy Long, ``U.S. Representative #1.'' It includes 
discussions of services performed by Long's office. It includes 
descriptions of interactions with Long's top adviser. It includes Jones 
directing political donations and offering to hand-deliver a check to 
Billy Long to guarantee he was immediately aware of the money's source.
  For his role in this bribery scheme, Jones got a prison sentence of a 
year and a day behind bars.
  The Finance Committee held Billy Long's nomination hearing a few 
weeks ago. I asked several questions in writing about this matter that 
were informed by certain reports brought to my investigations team. I 
laid out the names of all the characters and organizations involved in 
this massive bribery scandal.
  I asked the former Congressman whether he or his campaign received 
payments from anybody involved. I asked whether he was an unindicted 
coconspirator in a Federal criminal case

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involving any of them. I asked whether he was ever interviewed by 
Federal prosecutors or law enforcement agents in relation to this 
criminal investigation. I asked if he ever acknowledged to the 
Department of Justice that he received bribes from individuals involved 
or if he struck any kind of cooperation agreement to avoid prosecution. 
I asked whether his decision to leave Congress in any way related to 
his involvement in this investigation or a condition to avoid 
prosecution.
  Here is the answer:

       ``I had nothing to do with any of this and I do not know 
     any of these people or organizations.''

  Colleagues, this is just impossible to believe. We are talking about 
a major bribery scandal that unfolded in Billy Long's hometown--not 
even on the other side of the district. He is implicated in a guilty 
plea as ``U.S. Representative #1.'' The idea that he doesn't know 
anybody involved is just absurd.
  I am convinced, colleagues, there is more to this story. Senators 
ought to ask themselves whether they want to be on the record 
supporting this nomination when the rest of it comes to light.
  In my view, this nomination should never have come to the Senate 
floor. Billy Long never did any serious legislating on tax issues. He 
has no experience in tax policy. What he does have is experience in tax 
fraud.
  He left office in 2023 after an unsuccessful Senate campaign. He went 
straight into the tax fraud industry. He teamed up with a bunch of 
sketchy operators selling tax deals that were sleazy at best. He got 
paid to promote fake Tribal tax credits by a firm called White River 
Energy. Neither Long nor White River can tell us what Tribe they 
acquired these so-called tax credits from.
  The IRS confirmed to my staff that the credits were fake. They said 
that the promoters of them could face prosecution.
  The same day a Bloomberg News article exposed this scheme, December 
19--just a few days after Donald Trump announced Long's nomination--the 
CFO of the company got on a call with investors and told them they 
would soon have friends at the IRS to clean up their mess. My 
investigators obtained the audio. We have it on tape.
  Not long thereafter, White River executives started cutting checks to 
Long's failed Senate campaign that had ended years before. Between 
their donations and others that poured in after his nomination went 
public, Billy Long was able to stuff $130,000 into his own pockets by 
repaying his personal campaign loans.

  Now he has refused to answer any questions about this scheme and his 
role in it.
  If that is not enough reason to oppose this nominee, let me talk 
briefly about the employee retention tax credit. This was a small 
business rescue program Congress created during the depths of the 
pandemic. But after it expired, the scamsters came in, and they turned 
it into a firehose of fraud.
  Billy Long must have seen an opportunity, and he used his credibility 
as a former Congressman to sling these tax credits to anybody who would 
listen. We have him on tape saying that ``everybody qualifies'' for the 
ERTC. That is a lie. He bragged about getting money for a funeral home 
even though the pandemic was a boom time for that kind of business due 
to the number of Americans dying of COVID-19.
  Finance Committee investigators obtained another recording, this time 
of an executive at a firm called Appreciation Financial that sold the 
scam-ridden tax credits. He said he made the Congressman his guest to 
the inauguration earlier this year. He said they had dinner and spent a 
few nights together. His exact quote on the subject of IRS enforcement 
around employee retention credits is this:

       ``We could be worried about promoter audits now but we 
     don't have to worry about any of that now with Billy coming 
     in.''

  I asked Long about this at his nomination hearing in written 
questions, whether he knew this executive and what he promised him. 
There was no real answer either time.
  Now, colleagues, I will say it again. That ought to be enough to vote 
down this nomination, but if you want more scandal, let's talk about 
no-show jobs at the Office of Personnel Management.
  Back in March, Mr. Long was made a senior advisor to the Director of 
OPM. Our staff asked Mr. Long in a due diligence meeting what his 
responsibilities were there. He picked up a recent OPM press release, 
read it word for word, and then said he worked on it. When asked for 
additional detail or more examples of his duties, he mumbled a few 
things about retirement and proofreading--no other information. Now, 
the Congressman is a talkative guy. His brevity on this subject speaks 
for itself.
  After that meeting, Finance Committee investigators obtained copies 
of internal OPM work calendars belonging to Billy Long and three 
persons who were hired with him. They were nearly blank--a scant 
meeting here and there; no evidence of legitimate work being performed.
  An investigative reporter for the Talking Points Memo dug into the 
matter. Neither Billy Long nor OPM would provide any real answers 
either.
  It sure looks to me like the former Congressman got high-paying, no-
show jobs for himself and three others. If they were doing real work, 
they would have told us what they were doing. They have nothing to lose 
if everything is on the level.
  Somebody who ripped off the taxpayer by accepting a no-show job on a 
maxed-out salary cannot be trusted to run the IRS. Colleagues, it is 
that simple.
  And let's remember, this was going on just as the Trump-Musk-DOGE 
crowd were first breaking into OPM with the goal of terrorizing public 
servants and triggering mass layoffs.
  So I close with just one question: How can the Senate possibly--
possibly--put this individual in charge of our tax system?
  The reality is that this is all about fairness.
  It wouldn't be all that difficult for the Trump administration to go 
back and find a tax expert or somebody with lots of management 
experience to run this vital Agency. We had great working relationships 
with the first Trump IRS Commissioner, Chuck Rettig. This is not about 
whether you have an ``R'' or a ``D'' next to your name. There are 
serious issues to deal with when it comes to the Tax Code--protecting 
taxpayer data, building on our improvements in taxpayer service.
  The Trump administration is signaling that the wealthy have a green 
light to commit tax fraud, and that is outrageous, with huge 
implications and consequences for years to come.
  The bottom line is, fairness matters at the IRS. Independence matters 
at the IRS. Ethics and honesty matter at the IRS. The American people 
aren't going to get any of that--none--from Billy Long. He is 
surrounded, in my view, by a cloud of corruption, and we ought to keep 
that away from the IRS at all costs.
  Mr. President, I urge my colleagues to oppose the Long nomination 
that we will vote on in a few minutes.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. CRAPO. Mr. President, I rise today to urge my colleagues to vote 
in favor of the confirmation of Congressman Billy Long, who is 
nominated to serve as Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service.
  The IRS is responsible for helping American taxpayers understand and 
meet their tax responsibilities, and enforcing the law with integrity 
and fairness.
  However, the Agency has been plagued by inefficiencies, outdated 
systems, and low employee morale, despite an influx of funding.
  At his confirmation hearing, Congressman Long pledged to refocus the 
IRS on its primary mission to collect Federal taxes and placed an 
emphasis on prioritizing IT modernization and improving customer 
service.
  He also stated unequivocally that politicization has no place at the 
agency.
  American taxpayers will benefit from these initiatives, and I look 
forward to working with Congressman Long to ensure they are 
implemented, if confirmed.
  I also thank Congressman Long again for his time spent working 
through the Finance Committee's rigorous nomination process.
  Despite accusations to the contrary, Congressman Long made clear in 
both verbal and written responses that he

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worked as an independent contractor when performing tax consulting work 
for Capitol Edge Strategies. He never worked at White River or anywhere 
else on Native American Tribal tax credits.
  With respect to contributions made to his Senate campaign, 
Congressman Long has stated repeatedly that he followed Federal 
Election Commission guidelines.
  I am confident that Congressman Long is equipped to lead the IRS as 
Commissioner. I encourage my colleagues to join me in advancing his 
nomination.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Carolina.
  Mr. TILLIS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to begin the vote 
now scheduled for a later time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there an objection?
  Without objection, it is so ordered.