Key facts
- Ken Kies, the IRS's acting chief counsel, was reportedly forced out after refusing White House demands to participate in tax audits.
- Kies cited a law prohibiting the president, vice president, and other White House officials from ordering the IRS to conduct or terminate an audit.
- He also clashed with administration officials over the department's stance on high-value tax issues, including tax breaks for landowners.
- Two administration officials cited concerns about Kies' temperament, work ethic, and computer literacy as reasons for his dismissal.
- Kies previously served as President Donald Trump's tax lawyer and stated he recused himself from matters surrounding Trump's taxes.
- A federal judge recently struck down a settlement that granted Trump, his family, and businesses broad immunity from tax scrutiny.
Ken Kies, the U.S. tax agency’s top attorney, has been forced out of his role after refusing White House demands to participate in tax audits, according to sources familiar with the matter. Kies, who served as the Internal Revenue Service’s acting chief counsel and Treasury Department assistant secretary for tax policy, reportedly told administration officials that their requests would violate a law prohibiting political interference in IRS investigations.
This law is considered a primary safeguard against the weaponization of the tax code. Kies also reportedly clashed with administration officials over his department’s stance on high-value tax issues, such as tax breaks for landowners who agree to restrict development on their property. Two administration officials cited concerns about Kies’ temperament, work ethic, and computer literacy as reasons for his dismissal.
Kies, who previously worked as President Donald Trump’s tax lawyer, had stated he recused himself from matters surrounding Trump’s taxes. His team frequently refused work related to a settlement struck by the Justice Department to grant Trump and his businesses broad immunity from tax scrutiny. A federal judge recently struck down that deal and a related $1.8 billion settlement fund, holding that Trump and the Justice Department engaged in a mock legal battle to legitimize the improper agreement.
Kies is expected to leave the administration in mid-August. Jim Gadwood, a tax attorney who also represented Trump on tax matters, has been nominated to take Kies’ place as the IRS’s top lawyer.