New IRS CEO is also Social Security head. Why dual role worries experts

When asked on Tuesday about the agency’s leadership decision, former IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel told CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” “I think right now it’s crunch time at the IRS.”

Six individuals have served as IRS Commissioner or acting IRS Commissioner since inauguration day in January, among them President Donald Trump’s nominee Billy Long, who the Senate confirmed in June. Trump removed Long from the role in August and replaced him with Bessent.

There is currently no Deputy Commissioner managing day-to-day operations, said Werfel, who served under the Biden administration from 2023 to 2025. 

“That’s a lot of volatility at the top of a very complex process and organization. And so steps needed to be taken now” to make sure the agency is ready for the opening of tax season in January, Werfel said.

Still, Bessent and Bisignano need to be accessible to IRS staff for decisions as problems arise. Otherwise, “it’s the taxpayers waiting in line that will pay the price,” he said.

Meanwhile, the agency has been racing to implement tax law changes enacted via Trump’s “big beautiful bill,” including some provisions that apply to 2025, which will impact returns filed in 2026.

Recent IRS staffing cuts could harm taxpayer service, according to a September report from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. The agency has lost 17% to 19% of workers covering “key IRS functions” needed for the filing season, the report found.

“This arrangement doesn’t sound like stability at the IRS,” said Alex Muresianu, senior policy analyst at the Tax Foundation, a nonprofit tax policy think tank. “To me, this seems like yet another sort of odd, unusual interim arrangement.” 

“That lack of stability at the top is concerning at this time, as the IRS has to worry about the coming filing season and some major tax changes,” he said. 

The Treasury Department did not respond to CNBC’s request for comment.

Bessent’s nomination of Bisignano to lead IRS’ day-to-day operations points to the “incredible” work that has been done under his leadership so far, including technology and process management updates, an SSA agency spokesperson said.

Bisignano, the former CEO of fintech and payments company Fiserv, will still lead SSA and will continue to rely on the strong executive leadership team he has built in the five months since his confirmation, the spokesperson said.

Yet Social Security advocates worry about what the unprecedented move to have one leader at both agencies may mean for the approximately 74 million individuals who rely on the SSA for Social Security or Supplemental Security Income benefits.

“The reason it’s never happened in the history of the country is because there are two separate positions for very good reasons,” said Nancy Altman, president of Social Security Works, an advocacy organization for expanding Social Security.

Both SSA and the IRS hold sensitive information that must be kept separate, she said. For example, SSA employees cannot see how their neighbors manage their taxes, and IRS workers cannot see someone’s medical records and whether they have a disability.

When merging leadership of the agencies, it will be crucial to make sure there is no commingling of that data, Altman said.

There is also the concern that one leader for both agencies may be spread thin, which could slow decision-making and hurt the quality of the agency’s services, Altman said.

The new CEO role at the IRS would not require the Senate to confirm Bisignano, she said.

A nomination has been submitted for Arjun Mody, a former Republican Congressional staffer, to serve as deputy commissioner of SSA. The Senate would have to confirm that nomination.

Another advocacy organization, the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, said the administration’s move to tap Bisignano to also lead the IRS is both “unprecedented” and “unwise.”

This year, SSA has already cut staff and implemented new rules, such as new restrictions around direct deposit changes, that affect access to benefits, Max Richtman, president and CEO of the National Committee said in a statement.

“This agency is too important to have a part-time leader,” Richtman said. “Seniors, people with disabilities, and their families deserve a full-time Social Security Commissioner.”

The White House did not respond to a request for comment by press time.