U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen

U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) joined 13 of her Senate colleagues in investigating whether Frank Bisignano, Chief Executive Officer of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS), misled Congress and the public about his agency’s staffing problems after the Trump Administration gutted the IRS workforce–leaving Americans struggling to reach customer service at the agency during the past tax filing season. New reporting reveals that the IRS is scrambling to hire thousands of new workers after the agency fired or pushed out nearly 30,000 workers last year–more than a fourth of its staff.

The Senators wrote, in part: “We write regarding recent reports that after cutting 27 percent of its staff in 2025, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is now scrambling to hire thousands of new staff. These reports raise questions about whether you misled Congress and the public about the Trump administration’s reckless cuts at the agency. Earlier this year, you stated that the IRS had no additional staffing needs, despite the fact that the Trump Administration spent its first year in office firing or pushing out nearly 30,000 workers. You defended the staff cuts on numerous occasions […] You indicated in April 2026 that there was “no staffing shortage” at the IRS […].”

They continued: “But independent reports were telling a different story. In January, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration warned that staffing shortages were serious and could impact customer service at the IRS. Press reports described internal IRS communications explaining that the agency was struggling […] And contrary to your claims about improved customer service, an independent watchdog found that, during this filing season, time on hold for taxpayers more than doubled while IRS customer service representatives answered 20% fewer phone calls […] New reporting suggests that the IRS understood the need for more agency staff […] Yet when addressing Members of Congress, you did not mention the ‘ongoing staffing shortages [that] put the 2026 Filing Season at risk’ that IRS officials identified in the memo–instead, you repeatedly denied the existence of a staffing shortage.”

They concluded: “This discrepancy requires an explanation […] Therefore, to better understand whether you misrepresented the IRS’s staffing shortage to Congress and the public, we request that you answer the following questions by August 5, 2026: 1. Are the reports that the IRS requested and received special authority to hire new employees on an expedited basis accurate? If so: a. What authority was used for this hiring? b. When did the IRS request this authority? c. When was this authority granted? d. How many employees have been hired under this authority to date? e. Where have these employees been assigned? 2. Were you aware of the internal memo sent in February by Chief Human Capital Officer Alex Kweskin? If so, when did you become aware? If not, why not? 3. Had you read the memo prior to your appearances in front of the Congressional tax writing committees? If not, why not? 4. What was your basis for telling Congress and the public that there was ‘no staffing shortage’ at the IRS while at the same time seeking hiring authority due to a ‘critical hiring need’?”

Simplifying the tax system and ensuring Americans have the resources they need to file their taxes has been a long-time priority for Senator Shaheen. Ahead of this past tax season, Shaheen joined her colleagues in a letter warning that the IRS was woefully unprepared to assist the American people due to mass layoffs and chaos at the agency. Shaheen is a staunch supporter of the highly successful Direct File program, helping to introduce legislation earlier this year to reverse the Administration’s decision to cancel the popular program. Shaheen has also worked to protect Granite Staters who experienced challenges when using online tax services like TurboTax and introduced the Tax Filing Simplification Act to ease the tax filing process for millions of Americans and lower costs.