Sad day for Speaker Paul Ryan? Trump sacks IRS Commissioner John Koskinen

The White House announced Thursday President Donald J. Trump will not reappoint IRS Commissioner John Koskinen for a new five-year term.

Koskinen was three times the target of impeachment efforts by House conservatives, first by Chairman Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R.-Utah) and his House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and then twice by members of the House Freedom Caucus.

Each time, Speaker Paul D. Ryan Jr. (R.-Wis.) intervened both directly and through intermediaries, such as the current chairman of House Oversight, Rep. Harold W. “Trey” Gowdy (R.-S.C.) to persuade conservatives to back down.

Trump intends to designate Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy David Kautter as Acting Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, the White House said.

Koskinen’s term expires on November 12, 2017, but his last day on the job is set for Nov. 9, with Kautter taking over Nov. 13.

Kautter joined Treasury as Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy in August, the White House said. He is expected also to carry out his assistant secretary duties, including working on tax reform, while serving as acting commissioner.

Deputy Commissioner for Services and Enforcement Kirsten Wielobob will run the day-to-day operations of the IRS, reporting directly to the acting commissioner.

The search for a permanent IRS commissioner is ongoing.

Check out this video from the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee about the case for impeaching IRS Commissioner John Koskinen: