By Jacob Fulton
CQ-Roll Call
(TNS)
WASHINGTON — House Ways and Means Democrats pressed Frank Bisignano, who leads both the IRS and Social Security Administration, on data access concerns at both agencies in his first testimony on Capitol Hill since he took on his newly created role at the tax agency.
Throughout the nearly five-hour hearing Wednesday, Democrats frequently seized on a ruling last week from a federal judge that found the IRS broke the law in improperly disclosing and sharing more than 42,000 taxpayer addresses with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. But Bisignano repeatedly declined to answer questions about the case, citing ongoing litigation.
U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly of the District of Columbia wrote in the ruling that the IRS broke the law “approximately 42,695 times.” ICE asked the IRS for 1.28 million taxpayer records last summer under a memorandum of understanding, and a ruling on the legality of the disclosure is being appealed.
Bisignano said no IRS employees were fired or disciplined as a result of the disclosures.
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“I just ask that you ask yourself, why should Americans trust an agency that broke the law tens of thousands of times?” said Rep. Mike Thompson of California, the top Democrat on the Ways and Means Tax Policy Subcommittee.
Republicans, for their part, spent the hearing highlighting the impact and rollout of their sprawling 2025 budget reconciliation law, which extended the 2017 tax cuts and provided new tax breaks such as no taxes on tips.
“The IRS is where the rubber meets the road for delivering this tax relief,” Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., said in his opening statement. “It is vital that the IRS must deliver timely refunds.”
The testimony comes just over a month into the 2026 tax filing season, which has been marked by the Trump administration’s efforts to shrink the IRS workforce despite all the new tax code changes from the reconciliation law.
Bisignano has been serving as the first-ever “CEO” of the IRS since Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who is also acting IRS commissioner, appointed him to the newly created role in October. Bisignano was also confirmed in May as Social Security commissioner.
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Democrats also sought to press Bisignano on the January disclosure that members of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency team working at the Social Security Administration improperly shared Americans’ sensitive data with a political advocacy group.
Bisignano deferred on the matter and other questions related to Social Security, saying that the purpose of the hearing was to discuss the IRS.
Tax refunds in spotlight
Republicans, meanwhile, sought to highlight recent technological efforts to improve the taxpayer experience, as well as IRS data on 2026 filings that reflect an uptick in average individual refunds. The average 2026 tax refund as of Feb. 20 is up 10.2 percent from the same time last year, with an average refund of $3,804, up from $3,453.
“It’s nine days on average for that refund to get to the taxpayer,” Bisignano said of the tax policy changes and efforts to overhaul the agency. “So I think what you’re finding is bigger refunds, quicker refunds and an easier IRS to operate through.”
At least one Republican lawmaker, however, wasn’t satisfied with Bisignano’s testimony before the committee.
Rep. Max Miller of Ohio, after asking Bisignano a question about further IRS guidance regarding digital asset taxation and receiving an offer for a future conversation on the matter, said Bisignano’s inability to “answer the questions directly” is “really upsetting.”
“You guys on his team, you need to do a better job of educating the IRS commissioner about the questions that he’s coming here to answer. I mean, I’m very embarrassed right now from my side,” he said, adding that Bisignano’s responses were “unacceptable.”
Photo caption: IRS CEO Frank Bisignano answers a question during a House Ways and Means Committee hearing on March 4, 2026. (YouTube)
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