美国总统乔·拜登(Joe Biden)任命美国国税局(Internal Revenue Service)局长，这似乎平息了共和党在周三确认听证会上的一些批评，他承诺恢复对这个陷入困境的机构的信任。

通过参议院财政委员会前三个小时的质询，主席罗恩·怀登·多尔。丹尼尔·沃费尔称这是“城里最具挑战性、最不受欢迎的工作之一”，他表示支持拜登的愿望针对高收入纳税人，并重申了财政部长珍妮特·耶伦(Janet Yellen)的承诺，即不会提高收入低于40万美元的小企业和家庭的审计率。

“如果我有幸得到确认，审计和合规优先事项将侧重于提高国税局的能力，以确保美国最高收入人群遵守适用的税法，”Werfel说。

Werfel的提名正值共和党对国税局进行严格审查之际，国税局通过国会8月份通过的通货膨胀削减法案获得了大量资金。那笔资金，财政部官员说将主要用于改善纳税人服务和使过时的纸质国税局运营现代化。

“此外，我们还将努力实现纳税人服务的现代化，并大幅改善这一服务。如果得到确认，我将与该委员会密切合作，领导这些努力，并将不屈不挠地追随我的‘真北’——增加公众信任，不为人知地有效实施我们的税收，并为关键的政府服务提供资金做任何必要的事情，”他说。

他说:“我的理解是，重点是雇用有理解能力和才能的人来解开非常复杂的回报，这是今天存在的能力差距。”

51岁的商业顾问Werfel此前曾在共和党和民主党政府中担任过一些政府职务，他在听证会上还承诺公布一项计划，用于支出国税局最近增加的资金——未来10年约800亿美元。

美国国税局被要求在周五之前向财政部长珍妮特·耶伦提交一份计划，说明它计划如何使用这笔资金。沃费尔没有参与撰写该计划。

Werfel说，委员会和公众成员将能够把来自IRA的美元与该计划的各种活动和投资联系起来。

他还重申，作为国税局局长，他将承诺不会提高年收入低于40万美元的小企业和家庭的税务审计率，耶伦在一份声明中证实了这一点信去年与国会分享的前国税局局长。

共和党反对爱尔兰共和军声称，资金将用于雇用87，000名新的代理人，以针对美国中产阶级和小企业

在对第118届国会的首次演讲中，新当选的众议院议长凯文·麦卡锡承诺:“我们的第一项法案将废除对87，000名新国税局代理人的资助。”几天后，众议院共和党人投票决定这样做，尽管财政部官员和文件核实这种说法是错误的。

内华达州民主党参议员凯瑟琳·科尔特斯-马斯托(Catherine Cortez-Masto)在周三的听证会上直接问韦费尔，他是否计划使用87，000名新特工来审计美国人。

“我不是。我认为这显然是不正确的，”他说，并补充说“武装特工的概念”——另一个被财政部官员揭穿的共和党主张——也是不正确的。

"我当然不打算让这成为任何未来计划的一部分."

Werfel还在周三的听证会上花了一部分时间来解决共和党对该机构的额外怀疑，俄克拉荷马州共和党参议员詹姆斯·兰克福德(James Lankford)表示，这已经被提升到“压制保守派的声音”，并对公众进行了不必要的侵扰。

共和党委员会成员引用了一个名为秘密国税局文件-根据美国国税局直接提供的税务信息，讲述超级富豪避税技巧的一系列故事。

共和党参议员约翰·图恩(John Thune)问道:“你知道，仍然没有任何关于泄露的责任……你会采取措施确保这种机密的税务信息被泄露，有责任追究并确保它不会再次发生吗?”

Werfel表示，维护数据安全将是“重中之重”，特别是在实现他的目标，即赢得公众对该机构的更多信任方面。

“数据安全是重中之重。我不知道如何与公众建立信任，当人们意识到存在未经授权披露的重大风险时，”他说。

“因此，我绝对要做的事情之一是与监察长合作，了解他们认为已经调查过的任何具体行动或活动的风险是什么——根本原因是什么……如果有他们的纠正措施，因为如果有，我们会采取措施。”

Werfel被提名接替唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)总统选定的国税局局长查尔斯·雷蒂格(Charles Rettig)，预计将滑向两党确认投票。

“顺便说一句，我打算支持你的确认，”共和党全国委员会参议员托姆·蒂利斯在对韦费尔的质询中说。

怀登在听证会结束时说，他预计参议院从总统日休假回来后，将很快推动韦费尔的提名。

Biden's pick to head IRS quells GOP criticism at nomination hearing

President Joe Biden's pick to head the Internal Revenue Service appeared to quell some GOP criticism at his confirmation hearing Wednesday by promising to restore trust in the troubled agency.

Through three hours of questioning before the Senate Finance Committee for what chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., called "one of the more challenging and least popular jobs in town," Daniel Werfel confirmed his backing ofBiden's desireto target high income taxpayers and reaffirmed Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen's promise to not increase audit rates for small businesses and households making under $400,000.

"If I am fortunate enough to be confirmed, the audit and compliance priorities will be focused on enhancing IRS' capabilities to ensure that America's highest earners comply with applicable tax law," Werfel said.

Danny Werfel, commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) nominee for US President Joe Biden, during a Senate Finance Committee nomination hearing, Feb. 15, 2023, in Washington.

Anna Rose Layden/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Werfel's nomination comes amid intense GOP scrutiny of the IRS, which received a significant funding boost through the Inflation Reduction Act, passed by Congress in August. That funding,Treasury Department officials saywill be used mostly for improving taxpayer services and modernizing antiquated, paper-based IRS operations.

"Also front and center will be efforts to modernize and dramatically improve taxpayer service. If confirmed, I will lead these efforts in close collaboration with this committee and will be unyielding in following my 'true north' -- to increase the public trust, unheralded effective implementation of our taxes and do anything necessary to fund critical government services," he said.

"My understanding is the focus is to hire people with understanding and capacity and talent to unpack very complicated, intricate returns, which is a capacity gap that exists today," he said.

Werfel, a 51-year-old business consultant who has previously held a number of government jobs in both Republican and Democratic administrations, also committed during the hearing to releasing a plan for spending the IRS's recent funding increase -- about $80 billion over the next 10 years.

The IRS is required to submit a plan, which Werfel has not been involved in writing, to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen by Friday on how it plans to spend the funds.

Werfel said the committee and members of the public would be able to connect the dollars from the IRA to the various activities and investments in the plan.

He also reaffirmed that as IRS commissioner, he'd commit to not increasing tax audit rates on small businesses and households making less than $400,000 per year, something Yellen confirmed in aletterto the former IRS commissioner shared with Congress last year.

GOP opponents of the IRA have claimed funding will be used to hire 87,000 new agents in order to target middle-class Americans and small business

In his first speech to the 118th Congress, newly-elected House Speaker Kevin McCarthy promised: "our very first bill will repeal the funding for 87,000 new IRS agents." Days later,House Republicansvoted to do just that, though Treasury Department officials and documentsverifythe claim is false.

Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez-Masto of Nevada asked Werfel directly at Wednesday's hearing if he planned on using 87,000 new agents to audit Americans.

"I am not. I think it's patently incorrect," he said, ading that the "notion of armed agents" -- another GOP claim debunked by Treasury officials -- also is incorrect.

"I certainly would have no intention of making that part of any plan going forward."

Werfel also spent part of Wednesday's hearing addressing additional GOP skepticism of the agency, which Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., said has been leveled to "silence conservative voices" and engages in unnecessary intrusion of the public.

GOP committee members referenced a ProPublica project called theSecret IRS Files-- a series of stories on the tax avoidance techniques of the ultra-wealthy based on tax information provided directly by the IRS.

Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., asked: "There still hasn't been any, you know, accountability on the leak … would you take steps to ensure that that kind of confidential tax information, the one that the breaches, there's accountability there and to that it doesn't happen again?"

Werfel said that maintaining data security would be a "top priority," especially in reaching his goal of garnering additional public trust in the agency.

"Data security is a top priority. I don't know how to build trust with the public when there's a sense that there's there's risk material risk of unauthorized disclosures," he said.

"So, one of the things that I will absolutely do is work with the inspector general to understand what did they see as the risks any specific action or activity that's taken place have been investigated–what are the root causes … if there are their corrective actions because if there are, we will make them."

Nominated to replace Charles Rettig, an IRS commissioner selected by President Donald Trump, Werfel is expected to glide towards a bipartisan confirmation vote.

"I intend to support your confirmation, incidentally" said Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., during his questioning of Werfel.

Wyden ended the hearing saying he expects to move Werfel's nomination quickly after the Senate returns from its Presidents Day break.