New IRS Commissioner Concedes Failures, Wants To Regain Public's Trust

He could shut the place down

Newly appointed Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner Daniel Werfel said the agency has lost the public's trust because of a "fundamental failure" by IRS management that included allowing the political targeting of conservative groups.

In his first appearance before a Congressional committee Monday, Mr. Werfel said his "primary mission is to restore" trust in the tax collection agency. Werfel, who has been in office 12 days, said he had ordered a review of a "broad spectrum of IRS operations" and had installed new leadership "at several critical levels" of the IRS. He pledged to "permanently fix" the problems he found and to be "open and transparent with the American people."