ICYMI: Trump Forces Out Top IRS Lawyer Kies After He Raised Concerns About Admin Giving Orders to the IRS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, July 20, 2026

Washington, D.C. – Last week, Ken Kies, acting chief counsel to the Internal Revenue Service was forced out by the Trump Administration after he warned members of the Administration against giving orders to the IRS to politicize tax audits.

This comes after an unprecedented settlement between Trump and the IRS that shields his family from future IRS lawsuits, and as he has used the IRS as a weapon against institutions, individuals, and organizations that he opposes.

Cole Leiter, Executive Director of Americans Against Government Censorship, shared the following statement:

“First Trump weaponized the IRS against organizations and institutions he opposes, threatening their tax-exempt status. Then, he made himself and his family off limits to the IRS. Now he has pushed out senior leadership warning his Administration against illegally inserting vindictive politics into tax administration. This is all part of Trump’s plan: punish enemies, make it impossible for others to hold him accountable, and get rich while doing it.”

WSJ: Top Treasury Tax Official Ousted After Clashes With White House Over IRS Audits

The Treasury Department’s top tax policy official was forced out of his job after he warned that the White House was at risk of violating a federal law prohibiting senior officials’ involvement in IRS audits, according to people familiar with the matter.

Kenneth Kies, an assistant Treasury secretary and acting chief counsel of the Internal Revenue Service, is leaving those posts in the coming weeks. 

Kies at times clashed behind the scenes with White House officials, the people said. That included a recent meeting in which he contended that a potential White House request would violate Section 7217 of the Internal Revenue Code, one of the people said. That law prohibits the president, vice president, White House staff and certain agency heads from directly or indirectly requesting that the IRS conduct or terminate an audit or investigation of any particular taxpayer.

Violations are punishable with up to five years in prison and up to $5,000 in fines, and IRS officials have long seen the prohibition as an important shield against the kind of political interference that President Richard Nixon tried to impose on the tax agency.

IRS employees who receive requests they consider improper must report them to the agency’s inspector general or risk the same punishments. The 1998 law is untested in court, and enforcement in the near term would require action by the Trump administration.

It couldn’t be determined what White House requests Kies objected to and whether the administration plans to follow through with them after Kies departs. The taxpayers at issue could include individuals, corporations or nonprofit groups. Kies represented President Trump in private practice before joining the administration last year and has been recused from matters involving the president.

The president and some of his aides had become increasingly frustrated with Kies, some of the people said. Kies was at odds with White House officials over several issues during his tenure, including taxation of income from fantasy sports. He cited IRS rules about audits when asked questions about policies, even when officials weren’t asking about particular companies or audits, one of the people said.

Kies declined to comment. After The Wall Street Journal sought comment from the White House and the Treasury Department, several administration officials and Trump allies reached out to privately criticize Kies, arguing he was difficult to work with and didn’t do enough to advance the president’s agenda.