{"id":9328,"date":"2026-07-18T06:41:01","date_gmt":"2026-07-18T01:41:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=9328"},"modified":"2026-07-18T06:41:01","modified_gmt":"2026-07-18T01:41:01","slug":"trump-firing-did-white-house-fire-someone-trying-to-stop-irs-abuses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=9328","title":{"rendered":"Trump firing: Did White House fire someone trying to stop IRS abuses?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\"><em>This story appeared in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/the-logoff-newsletter-trump\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Logoff<\/a>, a daily newsletter that helps you stay informed about the Trump administration without letting political news take over your life. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/pages\/logoff-newsletter-trump-administration-updates\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Subscribe here<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\"><strong>Welcome to The Logoff<\/strong>: President Donald Trump fired one of his own appointees who was reportedly trying to stop his team from illegally interfering with the IRS.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\"><strong>What happened?<\/strong> Ken Kies headed tax policy at the Treasury Department and was simultaneously serving as the IRS\u2019s top lawyer on an acting basis.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">But, according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/link.vox.com\/click\/46629141.10191\/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cud3NqLmNvbS9wb2xpdGljcy9wb2xpY3kvdG9wLXRyZWFzdXJ5LXRheC1vZmZpY2lhbC1vdXN0ZWQtYWZ0ZXItY2xhc2hlcy13aXRoLXdoaXRlLWhvdXNlLW92ZXItaXJzLWF1ZGl0cy02MGQ1YjFkZj91ZWlkPTU2MjJhMGE0YWNkYjM2OGViMjZhMDUyNTY0NGUyZDhm\/6602f29095c4620665058440B722d1d79\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Wall Street Journal<\/a>, he\u2019s now been forced out. And his ouster comes after he\u2019d clashed with White House officials over certain requests they were making about IRS audits \u2014 requests that, Kies believed, were illegal.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">Federal law <a href=\"https:\/\/link.vox.com\/click\/46629141.10191\/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubGF3LmNvcm5lbGwuZWR1L3VzY29kZS90ZXh0LzI2LzcyMTc_dWVpZD01NjIyYTBhNGFjZGIzNjhlYjI2YTA1MjU2NDRlMmQ4Zg\/6602f29095c4620665058440Bb25bc6af\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">prohibits<\/a> the president and White House staffers from requesting, \u201cdirectly or indirectly,\u201d that the IRS \u201cconduct or terminate an audit or other investigation of any particular taxpayer.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\"><strong>What was the White House trying to do? <\/strong>We don\u2019t know yet. Possibilities include that they were requesting that certain people or groups, perhaps political enemies, be audited \u2014 or that they were trying to make ongoing audits of Trump\u2019s allies go away.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\"><strong>Do we know Kies was fired because of this?<\/strong> Not for sure. The <a href=\"https:\/\/link.vox.com\/click\/46629141.10191\/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cud3NqLmNvbS9wb2xpdGljcy9wb2xpY3kvdG9wLXRyZWFzdXJ5LXRheC1vZmZpY2lhbC1vdXN0ZWQtYWZ0ZXItY2xhc2hlcy13aXRoLXdoaXRlLWhvdXNlLW92ZXItaXJzLWF1ZGl0cy02MGQ1YjFkZj91ZWlkPTU2MjJhMGE0YWNkYjM2OGViMjZhMDUyNTY0NGUyZDhm\/6602f29095c4620665058440C722d1d79\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Journal reports<\/a> that administration officials and conservative activists had other complaints about Kies, including that he wasn\u2019t working fast enough to roll back Biden-era regulations, and that he was cracking down on wealthy investors\u2019 attempts to get huge tax breaks by <a href=\"https:\/\/link.vox.com\/click\/46629141.10191\/aHR0cHM6Ly90YXgudGhvbXNvbnJldXRlcnMuY29tL25ld3MvdHJlYXN1cnktb2ZmaWNpYWwtdW5wYWNrcy1jb25zZXJ2YXRpb24tZWFzZW1lbnQtc2V0dGxlbWVudC1vZmZlci1wcmV2aWV3cy1mdXR1cmUtcGxhbnMvP3VlaWQ9NTYyMmEwYTRhY2RiMzY4ZWIyNmEwNTI1NjQ0ZTJkOGY\/6602f29095c4620665058440B85d3c38f\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">not developing<\/a> certain lands.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\"><strong>What\u2019s the takeaway?<\/strong> In 1971, President Richard Nixon <a href=\"https:\/\/link.vox.com\/click\/46629141.10191\/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cud2FzaGluZ3RvbnBvc3QuY29tL25hdGlvbmFsL2pvaG5uaWUtd2FsdGVycy1pcnMtY29tbWlzc2lvbmVyLXVuZGVyLXByZXNpZGVudC1yaWNoYXJkLW0tbml4b24tZGllcy1hdC05NC8yMDE0LzA2LzI2L2U2YWU0OTA2LWZkM2QtMTFlMy1iMWY0LThlNzdjNjMyYzA3Yl9zdG9yeS5odG1sP3VlaWQ9NTYyMmEwYTRhY2RiMzY4ZWIyNmEwNTI1NjQ0ZTJkOGY\/6602f29095c4620665058440B73cba761\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">privately told his aides<\/a> that, atop the IRS, he wanted \u201ca ruthless son of a bitch\u201d that will \u201cgo after our enemies and not go after our friends.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">When these and many other Nixon-era abuses came to light, new laws were passed, and new norms were established to prevent this.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">But these norms have been fraying. Indeed, Vice President JD Vance <a href=\"https:\/\/link.vox.com\/click\/46629141.10191\/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnl0aW1lcy5jb20vMjAyNi8wNi8yNi91cy9wb2xpdGljcy92YW5jZS1uaXhvbi13YXRlcmdhdGUtZGVlcC1zdGF0ZS5odG1sP3VlaWQ9NTYyMmEwYTRhY2RiMzY4ZWIyNmEwNTI1NjQ0ZTJkOGY\/6602f29095c4620665058440B4a851dbd\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">recently argued<\/a> that Nixon\u2019s scandals weren\u2019t actually so bad and shouldn\u2019t have taken down his presidency at all.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><h2 class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup\"><strong>And with that, it\u2019s time to log off&#8230;<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">The World Cup final between Spain and Argentina is this Sunday\u2026or is it? That will depend on whether the <a href=\"https:\/\/link.vox.com\/click\/46629141.10191\/aHR0cHM6Ly9hcG5ld3MuY29tL2FydGljbGUvd29ybGQtY3VwLWZpbmFsLXNtb2tlLTc2ZWRiYjZhZmNhMDUwMTc0N2Q4ZWJhZjkxYTc0MWZjP3VlaWQ9NTYyMmEwYTRhY2RiMzY4ZWIyNmEwNTI1NjQ0ZTJkOGY\/6602f29095c4620665058440B28fb0cb5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">wildfire smoke-ridden air<\/a> in northern New Jersey (and much of the East Coast and Midwest) improves enough by then.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">Fingers crossed that it will, but while we wait, <a href=\"https:\/\/link.vox.com\/click\/46629141.10191\/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cudm94LmNvbS90b2RheS1leHBsYWluZWQtbmV3c2xldHRlci80OTU4OTAvY2FuYWRpYW4td2lsZGZpcmVzLXNtb2tlLWFxaT91ZWlkPTU2MjJhMGE0YWNkYjM2OGViMjZhMDUyNTY0NGUyZDhm\/6602f29095c4620665058440B2b662a08\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">read Caitlin Dewey<\/a> on how US cities had some of the unhealthiest air in the world this week.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This story appeared in The Logoff, a daily newsletter that helps you stay informed about the Trump administration without letting political news take over your life. Subscribe here. Welcome to The Logoff: President Donald Trump fired one of his own appointees who was reportedly trying to stop his team from illegally interfering with the IRS&#8230;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9329,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/platform.vox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/gettyimages-2285785856.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C10.666057312442%2C100%2C78.667885375116&w=1200","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-political-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9328"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9328\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}