WASHINGTON — The new chief executive of the Internal Revenue Service mostly refused to address congressional inquiries about illegal sharing of taxpayer information during his first appearance before lawmakers Wednesday, stating the violations occurred prior to his appointment.
Frank Bisignano, who became IRS CEO in October, appeared before the House Ways and Means Committee to discuss the agency’s performance during the ongoing 2026 tax filing period. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent continues serving as the IRS’s acting commissioner while Bisignano leads the organization in his newly established role.
In his opening statement, Bisignano highlighted how the Internal Revenue Service is executing the Republican-led tax and spending legislation, which eliminates taxation on tips and overtime pay, removes certain automotive loan interest taxes, establishes tax breaks for senior citizens, and creates Trump Accounts for children’s savings programs.
Democratic committee members, however, focused their questioning on a federal court ruling that found the IRS violated federal law by sharing protected taxpayer data “approximately 42,695 times” with Immigration and Customs Enforcement through an information-sharing arrangement between ICE and the Department of Homeland Security designed to locate and remove undocumented immigrants. Immigration enforcement represents a key priority for Republican President Donald Trump’s administration.
“Was anyone fired? Was anyone disciplined? Was anyone held accountable? Was anyone held to account?” questioned Representative Mike Thompson, a California Democrat.
Bisignano referenced active court cases and refused to discuss the data breaches, stating, “I don’t want to debate the numbers.”
Federal District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly ruled last month that the IRS illegally provided taxpayer records for thousands of individuals to immigration authorities.
Multiple legal challenges targeting the IRS-DHS information agreement remain active in federal court. Two judicial orders have prevented the agencies from conducting large-scale taxpayer data transfers and prohibited ICE from using any IRS information currently in its files. These temporary restraining orders continue to be enforced.
Representative Suzan DelBene of Washington state declared, “This is a catastrophic leadership failure and a huge hit on the public’s confidence in your integrity.”
Bisignano, who simultaneously serves as Social Security Administration commissioner, replied, “Obviously all these events occurred before my tenure.” However, he acknowledged it was “my responsibility to get it right.”
The information-sharing pact, signed last April by Bessent and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, permits ICE to provide names and addresses of undocumented immigrants to the IRS for verification against tax filing records. The agreement prompted the previous acting IRS commissioner to step down.
Democratic lawmakers also challenged Bisignano regarding the IRS’s recent termination of union agreements with agency employees. Representative Richard Neal of Massachusetts argued that “by terminating the union contract it makes it easier to take apart the IRS.”
Bisignano, whose father previously worked for the Treasury Department, responded, “Federal employees under statute have greater benefits than any union in the world can provide for their people.”
“They’re losing nothing,” he stated.
