IRS chief operating officer Melanie Krause will be taking over as the agency’s acting commissioner, a move that was announced by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday after current IRS interim chief Douglas O’Donnell said he plans to retire on Feb. 28.
“On behalf of the Treasury Department, I want to thank Doug O’Donnell for his decades of public service and dedication to the nation’s taxpayers,” Bessent said in a statement on Feb. 25. “He has been a remarkable public servant, and I wish him the best in retirement. At the same time, Melanie Krause and the agency’s leadership team are well-positioned to serve during this critical period for the nation in advance of the April tax deadline.”
Krause will be given the reins of an agency that just saw approximately 6,700 of its probationary employees let go—with possibly more job cuts on the way—in the throes of tax season as a result of cost-cutting measures by the Trump administration. In addition to serving as acting commissioner, she will move into the deputy commissioner role being vacated by O’Donnell.
Billy Long, a Republican congressman from Missouri from 2011 until 2023, was nominated by President Trump to be the next IRS commissioner; however, the Senate has yet to schedule confirmation hearings for Long.
Krause has served as the IRS chief operating officer since last April after acting as deputy commissioner of operations support starting in January 2024. As chief operating officer, Krause oversees the chief financial officer; chief risk office; facilities management and security services; human capital office; office of chief procurement; privacy, governmental liaison and disclosure; and research, applied analytics and statistics (RAAS).
Krause began her IRS career in October 2021 as the chief data and analytics officer. In this role, in addition to leading the RAAS team, Krause also coordinated research activities including using AI and other advanced analytics. Krause also served as acting deputy commissioner for services and enforcement from November 2022 to March 2023.
Prior to joining the IRS, Krause spent 12 years in the federal oversight community, including the Government Accountability Office and the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General. She also maintains an active license as a registered nurse. Krause holds bachelor, master, and doctoral degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
O’Donnell is a two-time acting commissioner of the IRS. He served in that role from late November 2022 until March 2023—the period after Charles Rettig, who was IRS chief during Trump’s first term in the White House, stepped down and until Danny Werfel took over as the tax agency’s commissioner. Most recently, O’Donnell has served as acting chief since Werfel resigned as IRS commissioner on Jan. 20, the day of Trump’s second presidential inauguration.
In addition to serving as deputy commissioner, O’Donnell, who joined the IRS in 1986, has spent time in a variety of roles at the agency, including deputy commissioner for services and enforcement and commissioner of the IRS Large Business and International (LB&I) division.
“The IRS has been my professional home for 38 years,” O’Donnell said in a statement. “I care deeply about the institution and its people and am confident that Melanie will be an outstanding steward of the Service until a new commissioner is confirmed.”
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