As a former member of the House Ways and Means Committee, the leading tax-writing body in Congress, I am encouraged to see the White House finally providing the legislative branch the support it needs to reform the Internal Revenue Service.

During a recent Ways and Means subcommittee hearing, Rep. Max Miller (R-OH) stated, “Taxpayers deserve an agency that keeps up with the times, operates efficiently, and acts as a responsible fiduciary of the American people’s money.” Unfortunately, for generations, they have received anything but this. Everyone knows that the IRS has been plagued by inefficiency, poor customer service, and outdated operational processes. It is no surprise that it remains one of the most unpopular federal agencies.

Under President Donald J. Trump’s leadership, real change is finally underway.

On March 25, he signed an executive order directing the IRS to modernize its payment processing — transitioning it away from slow, outdated mail-based methods and towards electronic payment processing. This long-overdue move will significantly benefit millions of Americans each year, reducing delays and improving agency efficiency.

More importantly, however, Trump is forcing the IRS to begin operating like a business, not a bureaucracy.

In January, he issued a hiring freeze on IRS employees, preventing the agency from filling new or vacant positions so that his administration can assess what is (and isn’t needed). The importance of this move can’t be overstated.

Before Trump took office, the IRS appeared to be undergoing an identity crisis, expanding beyond its intended role without first working out the kinks of delivering on its core mission (tax collection). Before it hires thousands more employees to further this misguided expansion, the administration is wisely insisting on a strategic reassessment.

A prime example of the IRS’s overreach is its recent attempt to enter the tax preparation business. Despite the existence of highly effective private-sector solutions, the IRS launched a pilot program in 2024. A Treasury Department Inspector General report from March 20, 2025, revealed serious flaws. For example, the Direct File program failed to allow taxpayers to claim key deductions, including the education tax credit — potentially costing some filers nearly $1,000 in overpayments.

The system also proved rather complicated to use, so only one-third of those who started a return through Direct File actually completed and filed an accepted one.

The cost of Direct File? A staggering $61 million once over 2.3 million use it, at least according to IRS estimates — though the Inspector General warns that actual costs may be even higher.

Why is the IRS expanding its reach into tax preparation while continuing to fail at its core responsibility — tax collection?

In 2022, the agency reported a tax gap — the difference between taxes owed and taxes collected — of $606 billion.

Despite receiving an $80 billion funding boost from the Inflation Reduction Act, the IRS has yet to show any real progress in closing this gap.

Maybe that is because, instead of focusing on its fundamental mission, it is diverting resources to unnecessary new initiatives that create more inefficiencies and confusion.

President Trump understands that before an organization expands, it must first perfect its primary function.

Successful businesses refine their operations before scaling; failing ones expand too early and collapse under their own inefficiencies. The IRS is behaving like the latter — a bloated bureaucracy that is overextending itself.

That’s why Trump’s IRS hiring freeze is so crucial. By pausing new hires, the administration is forcing the agency to reassess its priorities, eliminate waste, and become a leaner, more effective agency. This is common sense and deserves broad bipartisan support.

The Ways and Means Committee will undoubtedly back these necessary reforms, and for the sake of American taxpayers, the rest of Congress should do the same. The future of meaningful IRS modernization depends on it.

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Mike Bishop represented Michigan in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2015 to 2019, where he served on the Committee on Ways and Means.

The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

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