Democrats claim IRS Commissioner Frank Bisignano may have misled Congress

In a letter sent late Wednesday and shared exclusively with CNBC, a group of Senate Democrats led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren argued that Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Frank Bisignano may have lied to Congress about staffing issues as the agency rushes to hire after making deep cuts at the start of the Trump administration.

Mr. Bisignano, who is also the head of the Social Security Administration, testified before Congress in March that he is “comfortable with the current number of employees” at the IRS. He also denied that his agency was understaffed before the Senate Finance Committee in April.

But Warren, D-Mass., and other Democrats said in a letter that Mr. Bisignano’s testimony is inconsistent with recent reports that the IRS is actively ramping up hiring. They also point out that the agency’s own inspector general has cited staffing shortages as a key concern for the agency, as well as an internal memo reported by NOTUS asking for expedited hiring authority as “the 2026 filing season is in jeopardy due to continued staffing shortages.”

“New reports suggest that the IRS understands the need for additional staff, despite your public claims to the contrary,” Democrats wrote in the letter. “This discrepancy requires explanation. Under federal law, anyone who ‘knowingly and knowingly makes…materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statements or representations’ to Congress may be subject to penalties.”

The letter was signed by more than a dozen Democrats, including Senate Finance Leader Ron Wyden, D-Calif. Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (DR.I.), Peter Welch (Vermont), and Raphael Warnock (Georgia) also signed the letter.

It can be a crime to knowingly lie to or mislead Parliament.

The IRS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The letter is the latest headache for Mr. Bisignano. Mr. Bisignano was forced to defend himself earlier this week after the Wall Street Journal reported that Mr. Bisignano had spied on former colleagues at the company. JP Morgan Chase. The IRS chief denied reports that he used his security powers to intercept colleagues’ communications and access sensitive information.

In his current role, Bisignano sits at the head of an agency that handles a range of classified information about nearly every American.

The move also follows last year’s massive federal layoffs led by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. The IRS alone had more than 31,000 employees bleeding as of January 2026, according to the IRS Inspector General’s report, and Bisignano said that gap is being filled by the introduction of new technology.

The IRS IG said in a June report that staffing levels were contributing to delays in the agency’s operations.

“We also know that many of the departing employees are experienced workers with organizational knowledge and technical expertise who cannot be easily replaced,” the IG said in its report. “In a memo to the IRS Commissioner regarding the 2026 filing season, the IRS warned that it faces increased operational risks this season due to staffing shortages, slow hiring, and significant backlogs. For example, there has been a significant increase in critical inventory (such as amended returns and taxpayer correspondence) awaiting processing.”

Warren and others demanded that Bisignano reveal whether reports that the IRS was seeking special hiring powers were accurate and whether he was aware of the internal memo requesting the power and read it before testifying to Congress.

They also asked Congress to clarify the rationale for stating that the IRS does not have a “shortage” but is seeking hiring authority based on “critical employment needs.”