News from the South - Arkansas News Feed
IRS nominee Billy Long probed by Democrats over nonexistent tribal tax credits
by Ashley Murray, Arkansas Advocate
May 20, 2025
WASHINGTON — Senators tasked with tax writing split along party lines Tuesday praising and grilling former Republican U.S. Rep. Billy Long of Missouri, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Internal Revenue Service, the agency tasked with enforcing the largest source of U.S. revenue as the country faces record debt and interest costs.
Long, who served in Congress from 2011 to 2023 and previously spent multiple years as a talk radio host, testified to the Senate Finance Committee that he plans to get rid of “stinking thinking” at the IRS and implement a “comprehensive plan” to modernize the agency and “invest in retaining skilled members of the team.”
“This does not mean a bloated agency, but an efficient one where employees have the tools they need to succeed,” Long said.
The agency has lost more than 11,000 employees, or 11% of its workforce, either through deferred resignations or mass firing of probationary workers since Trump began his second term, according to a May 2 report from the agency’s inspector general. Trump said in December he intended to nominate Long for the IRS post.
‘Top-down culture change’
Committee Chair Mike Crapo of Idaho opened the confirmation hearing expressing his confidence in Long, saying he will direct a “sea change” at the agency that will benefit taxpayers.
“President Trump called Congressman Long the ‘consummate people person.’ Congressman Long is very clear that he will make himself available to all IRS employees, no matter their seniority. Moreover, he wants to implement a top-down culture change at the agency,” Crapo said.
The confirmation hearing comes as lawmakers struggle to agree on a budget reconciliation package, which will extend and expand Trump’s 2017 tax law and in turn widen IRS responsibilities.
Sen. James Lankford, an Oklahoma Republican, said he trusted Long’s work ethic and told him, “We’re going to do a tax bill here in the next couple of months. To be able to get that done, as we did it in 2017, there’ll be a lot of work the IRS has to do to be able to put guidance documents out, to be able to get clear instructions of what that means.”
Nonexistent tribal tax credits
Democrats approached the hearing with skepticism.
The nearly two-hour back-and-forth with Long followed recent revelations that he accepted donations to his defunct Senate campaign shortly after Trump nominated him as the IRS commissioner. Democratic senators on the panel have also called for an investigation into Long’s work with a company that peddled nonexistent tribal tax credits.
“Bottom line, the American people have the right to know whether the future IRS commissioner is a crook,” said Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the panel’s top Democrat.
Long denies any wrongdoing.
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, a Nevada Democrat, pressed Long about $65,000 he allegedly received for his involvement promoting the fake tax credits for the companies Capital Edge Strategies and White River.
“Knowing that (the credits) are illegal, the IRS has said they’re illegal, how do you stand here before this committee and tell the chairman just a few minutes ago that you have no conflict of interest?” Cortez Masto asked.
Long replied that he’s in compliance with the Office of Government Ethics regarding his nomination and that he “did not have any perception whatsoever that these (credits) did not exist.”
Other Democrats on the panel questioned Long on Trump’s recent statements that he would pull Harvard University’s tax-exempt status over its refusal to comply with demands from the administration.
Wyden characterized Long as a “MAGA devotee” and said that Trump wants to use the IRS “as a cudgel to beat his adversaries into submission.”
14-page letter
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who sent Long a 14-page letter questioning his past, repeatedly asked Long about a statute prohibiting the president from ordering tax audits on specific people or businesses.
“Is it illegal for the President to instruct the IRS to remove nonprofit status from taxpayers?” Warren asked several times.
“I’m not going to have the answer that you need, I apologize,” Long said.
Senate Republicans on the panel questioned Long on how he can improve customer service for taxpayers — despite the party successfully fighting in 2023 to cut new IRS funding under President Joe Biden in 2022.
Sen. Todd Young of Indiana said the agency is “behind the curve” on technology and that its customer service issues are “out of hand.”
“If confirmed, will you commit to developing a comprehensive IRS modernization plan that prioritizes customer service, identifies critical technology infrastructure needs and ensures greater transparency and audit practices? Yes or no?” Young asked.
“Yes,” Long replied.
“Excellent,” Young said.
Last updated 3:21 p.m., May. 20, 2025
Arkansas Advocate is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Arkansas Advocate maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sonny Albarado for questions: info@arkansasadvocate.com.
The post IRS nominee Billy Long probed by Democrats over nonexistent tribal tax credits appeared first on arkansasadvocate.com
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Center-Right
This content presents a fairly balanced report focused on a Senate confirmation hearing for Billy Long, emphasizing perspectives primarily from Republican senators who support Long’s vision for IRS reform. The article highlights criticism from Democratic senators but remains largely neutral in tone without overt editorializing. The focus on Republican viewpoints and skepticism about IRS expansion aligns the coverage slightly to the center-right, reflecting typical conservative concerns about government agency efficiency and spending, while including Democratic criticisms for context.
News from the South - Arkansas News Feed
Re-live the Beatles epic 1964 tour stop in Cincinnati
SUMMARY: The Beatles’ 1964 Cincinnati tour stop featured lively interactions and candid remarks. The band discussed their trip, politics—expressing skepticism about Goldwater—and addressed rumors about being banned in the U.S., dismissing them as baseless. They talked about novelty merchandise like mugs but denied inventing such items. The Beatles shared impressions of American movie stars like Burt Lancaster and Gordon, describing encounters as mixed but mostly positive. Their unique hairstyles were playfully explained as natural. The clip captures the group’s playful, down-to-earth nature amid their historic U.S. visit, blending humor, music, and cultural observations.
The Beatles came to Cincinnati to play a show in August 1964 as part of a 25-city North American tour. In this rare footage, see John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr as they land at the airport to the delight of throngs of die-hard fans. The Fab Four also chatted with local media about whether they should be banned, what they knew about the upcoming presidential election and how they felt about American movie stars.
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News from the South - Arkansas News Feed
US Education Department to revive student loan interest for borrowers in SAVE program
by Shauneen Miranda, Arkansas Advocate
July 9, 2025
WASHINGTON — Interest accrual on the debt of nearly 7.7 million student loan borrowers enrolled in the Saving on a Valuable Education plan will resume Aug. 1, the U.S. Education Department said Wednesday.
The Biden-era income-driven repayment plan better known as SAVE saw legal challenges from several GOP-led states beginning in 2024, creating uncertainty for borrowers who were placed in an interest-free forbearance amid that legal limbo.
The SAVE plan, created in 2023, aimed to provide lower monthly loan payments for borrowers and forgive remaining debt after a certain period of time.
In February, a federal appeals court upheld a lower court injunction that blocked the SAVE plan from going into effect. The department said Wednesday that it’s instructing its federal student loan servicers to start charging interest Aug. 1 to comply with court orders.
When the SAVE plan forbearance ends, “borrowers will be responsible for making monthly payments that include any accrued interest as well as their principal amounts,” the department said in a written announcement.
“For years, the Biden Administration used so-called ‘loan forgiveness’ promises to win votes, but federal courts repeatedly ruled that those actions were unlawful,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a statement alongside the announcement.
“Congress designed these programs to ensure that borrowers repay their loans, yet the Biden Administration tried to illegally force taxpayers to foot the bill instead,” she added.
McMahon said her department is urging borrowers under the SAVE plan to “quickly transition to a legally compliant repayment plan.”
“Borrowers in SAVE cannot access important loan benefits and cannot make progress toward loan discharge programs authorized by Congress,” she said.
‘Unnecessary interest charges’
Mike Pierce, executive director of the Student Borrower Protection Center, blasted the department’s decision in a statement Wednesday.
“Instead of fixing the broken student loan system, Secretary McMahon is choosing to drown millions of people in unnecessary interest charges and blaming unrelated court cases for her own mismanagement,” he said.
“Every day, we hear from borrowers waiting on hold with their servicer for hours, begging the government to let them out of this forbearance, and help them get back on track — instead, McMahon is choosing to jack up the cost of their student debt without giving them a way out.”
The agency has taken heat for its sweeping actions in the months since President Donald Trump took office as he and his administration look to dismantle the department.
The department is also mired in a legal challenge over some of its most significant efforts so far, including laying off more than 1,300 employees earlier this year as part of a reduction in force effort, an executive order calling on McMahon to facilitate the closure of her own agency and Trump’s proposal to transfer some services to other federal agencies. These actions have been temporarily halted in court.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump signed a massive tax and spending cut bill into law last week, part of which forces any borrower under the SAVE plan to opt in to a different repayment plan by July 1, 2028, or be automatically placed in a new, income-based repayment plan.
Arkansas Advocate is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Arkansas Advocate maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sonny Albarado for questions: info@arkansasadvocate.com.
The post US Education Department to revive student loan interest for borrowers in SAVE program appeared first on arkansasadvocate.com
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Center-Right
This article presents the developments around the federal student loan SAVE plan primarily through a critical lens toward the Biden administration’s policies, emphasizing legal challenges and statements from Education Secretary Linda McMahon, a Trump appointee, who frames the administration’s actions as unlawful and fiscally irresponsible. It includes critical commentary from conservative officials and frames the Biden-era policies as politically motivated. Although it also quotes critics of the Education Department’s decision, the overall tone and source choices suggest a center-right leaning, reflecting skepticism of progressive loan forgiveness policies while focusing on legal and fiscal accountability.
News from the South - Arkansas News Feed
Ceasefire & trade deal talks ongoing at White House
SUMMARY: The White House expects a Gaza ceasefire deal by the end of the week following Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s third visit to Washington in the Trump administration. Talks involve a 60-day pause in fighting, hostage releases, and partial Israeli troop withdrawal from Gaza, aiming to resolve the conflict while dismantling Hamas’s military and governance. Meanwhile, President Trump reiterated an August 1 tariff deadline, refusing extensions for trade deals. The Supreme Court has also allowed the president to proceed with significant federal workforce layoffs, impacting nearly two dozen agencies, as part of government downsizing efforts.
Here’s the latest on where negotiations stand now, along with President Trump’s recent moves on tariffs.
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