President Obama Appoints Daniel Werfel as Acting Commissioner of Internal Revenue

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

WASHINGTON – President Obama today announced the appointment of Daniel Werfel as Acting Commissioner of Internal Revenue, effective Wednesday, May 22.  As Acting Commissioner, Mr. Werfel will lead efforts to ensure the IRS implements new safeguards to restore public trust and administers the tax code with fairness and integrity.  Mr. Werfel has agreed to serve through the end of the fiscal year.

President Obama said, “Throughout his career working in both Democratic and Republican administrations, Danny has proven an effective leader who serves with professionalism, integrity and skill.  The American people deserve to have the utmost confidence and trust in their government, and as we work to get to the bottom of what happened and restore confidence in the IRS, Danny has the experience and management ability necessary to lead the agency at this important time.”

Mr. Werfel, 42, currently serves as Controller of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), where he has led efforts across the federal government to improve Federal program integrity, including all areas of financial management, financial reporting, accounting standards, improper payments, and financial systems, among others. Prior to his current role, Mr. Werfel served in multiple career civil service capacities at OMB, including as Deputy Controller, Chief of the Financial Integrity and Analysis Branch, Budget Examiner in the Education Branch, and Policy Analyst in the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. Mr. Werfel has also served as a Trial Attorney in the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division.

Mr. Werfel is a recipient of both national and local awards from the Association of Government Accountants for his contributions to Federal financial management. During the Bush Administration, he was the recipient of the Presidential Rank Award for Meritorious Service. Mr. Werfel also served as a member of the Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board from 2006 to 2009.

Mr. Werfel holds a Masters Degree in Public Policy from Duke University, a Juris Doctor from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a Bachelors Degree in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University.

Here’s a quick glimpse at what happened this week on WhiteHouse.gov.

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NRA touts internal Justice Dept. memo contesting Obama gun-control measures

The National Rifle Association (NRA) has obtained an internal Justice Department memo that it says shows President Obama's gun-control measures would not be effective without firearms seizures and national gun registration, the Associated Press reports.

The gun lobby is citing the nine-page memo in ads running in 15 states, including several swing states with Senate elections next year. In the ad, the NRA says the memo proves that the administration “believes that a gun ban will not work without mandatory gun confiscation” and thinks universal background checks “won't work without requiring national gun registration,” according to the AP.

Obama has not proposed either of those ideas. Instead, he has called for a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines as well as universal background checks for gun purchases – ideas included in Senate legislation introduced last month by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.).

The memo, a preliminary document signed by Justice Department research director Greg Ridgeway, casts doubts on all of those proposals. It has not been made public.

The memo says the ban would have little impact – especially if the many people who already have assault weapons and high-capacity magazines are allowed to keep them – because assault weapons account for a small number of gun deaths. And it says the usefulness of background checks would depend in part on “requiring gun registration,” something the president has shied away from in the face of bitter opposition from gun-rights advocates.

“Senators of both parties are working together on tough new laws to prevent anyone from buying guns for resale to criminals. Police chiefs are asking our help to get weapons of war and massive ammunition magazines off our streets, because they are tired of being outgunned,” Obama said during his State of the Union address. “Each of these proposals deserves a vote in Congress.”

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