Former southwest Missouri Congressman Billy Long is still waiting to see if he’ll be the next commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service. A vote on Long’s nomination is expected today but as of press time has not happened.

The U.S. Senate Finance Committee met Tuesday to offer final statements on his nomination, starting with committee chairman Mike Crapo, R-Idaho. He supports Long’s nomination and urges the committee to vote for him.

“If confirmed, I’ll look forward to working with him to ensure the IRS focuses on helping American taxpayers to better understand and meet their tax responsibilities, and that it enforces the tax law with integrity and fairness to all,” Crapo said. “I was encouraged to hear Congressman long clearly commit that the IRS will not and should not be politicized on (his) watch.”

Crapo also defended Long against accusations that the former Missouri Republican congressman violated federal guidelines regarding the selling of tax credits. He said that Long’s tax consulting work occurred as an independent contractor and followed federal guidelines, and that he “never performed work” for the company that sold tribal tax credits.

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, the ranking Democrat on the committee, strongly opposes Long’s nomination. He accused him of knowingly selling fake tribal tax credits in exchange for paying off his campaign debt left over from his U.S. Senate run.

“Finance Committee investigators obtained information from the IRS that these tribal tax credits Congressman Long helped sell were indeed fake, and the promoters could face prosecution,” Wyden said.

Long represented southwestern Missouri for 12 years in the U.S. House. He chose not to run for a third term and instead ran for U.S. Senate. He lost the 2022 Republican primary to Eric Schmitt, who went on to win the race that November.

This is a developing story and will be updated once the confirmation vote takes place.

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