April 8 (UPI) — Acting Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Melanie Krause told her staff Tuesday that she plans to resign, according to two administration officials, citing internal turmoil and the agency’s new immigrant data-sharing deal.
Krause’s resignation announcement comes one day after the IRS reached a data-sharing agreement with Homeland Security to locate undocumented immigrants in the United States, the two officials told CNN, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal.
On Monday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem agreed to allow U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to submit the names of immigrants to the IRS for cross-verification of tax records.
Krause is expected to leave her position at the tax-collecting agency on April 28, as part of the deferred resignation offer extended to federal employees, according to the reports.
“Melanie Krause has been leading the IRS through a time of extraordinary change,” a spokesperson for the Treasury Department, which oversees the IRS, said in a statement.
“As we focus on IT modernization and reorganize the agency to better serve the taxpayer, we are also in the midst of breaking down data silos that for too long have stood in the way of identifying waste, fraud and abuse and bringing criminals to justice. We believe these goals are critical to a more efficient government and safer country,” the spokesperson added. “We wish Melanie well on her next endeavor.”
Krause joined the IRS in 2021 as chief data and analytics officer before becoming chief operating officer last year. Her departure is the latest at the IRS, which has seen three leaders resign this year.
IRS commissioner Danny Werfel, appointed by former President Joe Biden, resigned on Inauguration Day. Acting IRS commissioner Doug O’Donnell refused to sign the data-sharing agreement in February, before he retired and Krause took over as acting commissioner.
Krause’s resignation comes during a busy time for the IRS with one week before the individual income tax-filing deadline. It also comes after thousands of IRS workers received termination notices as the Trump administration and the Department of Government Efficiency work to reshape the agency and shrink the federal government.
