Erin Slowey and Erin Schilling, “Top Treasury Tax Official, Acting IRS Lawyer Kies to Depart” (Bloomberg, July 13):
Ken Kies, the top Treasury tax policy official who also oversees the IRS legal arm, is departing his dual roles, an administration official said Monday.
The Senate confirmed Kies as the assistant secretary for tax policy at the Treasury Department during the summer of 2025. During his tenure, he also acted as the IRS chief counsel. Kies joined the IRS while the Trump administration enacted drastic cuts, slashing the workforce by more than a quarter. He also led the implementation of the GOP’s landmark 2025 tax law. . . .
A seasoned tax policy lobbyist, Kies focused his past year in government on crafting regulations for the tax law and trying to quash conservation easement cases, a longtime thorn for the IRS where taxpayers donate land at an inflated value and take an outsized charitable deduction.
The IRS during Kies’ time in the jobs also faced intense scrutiny for President Donald Trump’s lawsuit this year against the agency over the leak of the president’s tax returns and the resulting settlement agreement.
