The Internal Revenue Service’s top lawyer has reportedly been demoted as Elon Musk’s DOGE agency continues its push to get access to confidential taxpayer data.
William Paul, the IRS’ acting chief counsel, was recently removed from his position, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, citing multiple sources.
Paul is expected to be replaced by another IRS lawyer, Andrew De Mello, who was nominated to be the Education Department’s inspector general during President Trump’s first administration, according to the sources.
The exact circumstances surrounding Paul’s demotion weren’t immediately clear.
Paul, who is a non-political appointee, has been running what is essentially the tax agency’s law firm since his predecessor resigned at the end of former President Joe Biden’s term.
News of the internal reshuffle surfaced as Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has been working at the IRS to gain access to its sensitive tax database — with fraud becoming a major focus of the deficit-cutting initiative.
It comes, too, as the IRS drafts plans to potentially axe half its 90,000-strong workforce with a mix of layoffs, attrition and incentivized buyouts, sources said.
Roughly 7,000 probationary IRS employees with one year or less of service were already laid off in February.
In addition to the layoffs, the Trump administration intends to lend IRS workers to Homeland Security in a bid to assist with immigration enforcement.
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent last month requesting to borrow workers to help with migrant crackdown efforts.
With Post wires
