From CNN/Politics on 4/18:
Gary Shapley, whom President Donald Trump named acting commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service earlier this week with the support of Elon Musk, will no longer serve in the role, sources told CNN — a win for Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s office, which had opposed his appointment. …
Shapley had the backing of Musk and congressional Republicans, while Bessent’s office had reservations, three sources familiar with the matter told CNN. Bessent was out of the country when Trump appointed Shapley.
Shapley’s ouster from the top leadership role, which was first reported by The New York Times, ends a whiplash week at the IRS, which is a bureau of the Treasury Department. Trump signed the paperwork appointing Shapley on Tuesday, triggering panic among some career civil servants.
Shapley, who helped lead the Hunter Biden investigation, had provided whistleblower testimony to Congress as Republicans claimed partisan bias by Justice officials had hindered the investigation of the son of President Joe Biden. Republicans had celebrated his ascension at the IRS after Trump had previously named him deputy chief of IRS criminal investigations.
So Musk and Bessent bang heads and Bessent wins. But I don’t see any reason given for Bessent’s objection. Or was this dogs pissing on each other?
Republicans are not known, at least any longer, for subsuming their ambitions for the greater good. And Musk is notable for not being a formal member of the Administration.
This may be an obscure signal of power struggles behind the scenes.
