Billy Long wouldn’t give a direct response when asked if the president can order the Internal Revenue Service to strip someone’s tax-exempt status.
Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Internal Revenue Service refused to state that the president ordering an audit of an individual or organization, or that an organization’s tax-exempt status be removed, would be illegal.
Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts was apoplectic over Billy Long’s evasive responses to a line of questioning related to Trump’s open desire to strip Harvard University of its tax-exempt status for blatantly political purposes.
At one point during his testimony, Long said: “The IRS will not, should not be politicized on my watch, or any watch.” But his inability to give a clear response to Warren’s straightforward inquiry about his interpretation of the law certainly raises doubts.
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In a matter of years, Republicans have gone from hyping up dubious allegations that America’s tax system had been weaponized against conservatives to placating an illiberal wannabe “king” who openly wants to use that system against liberals. And Long is the living embodiment of that hypocritical turn.