Everson shifted to IRS post

President Bush today named Mark Everson as commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, moving the man in charge of his administration's management agenda to an agency often cited for its management problems.

If confirmed by the Senate, Everson will replace Charles Rossotti, who completed his five-year term as commissioner in November 2002.

"He has worked on governmentwide financial management technology issues and is well-qualified to take over the management of the" IRS, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said in the announcement at the daily press briefing.

Everson has been deputy director for management at the Office of Management and Budget since August 2002. In that role he led the administration's efforts to implement the five items on the President's Management Agenda: strategic workforce management, expanded use of e-government, increased competitive bidding of government services, improved financial performance and linking performance to budgets.

He had been at OMB since November 2001, when he was named controller of the Office of Federal Financial Management.

Following today's announcement, Colleen Kelley, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, said the union looks forward to working with Everson on the restructuring, modernization, privacy and privatization issues facing the IRS.

To replace Everson at OMB, Bush has named Clay Johnson, director of presidential personnel and "a trusted adviser and friend of the president," Fleischer said. Johnson previously served as executive director of the administration's transition team and in other advisory positions for Bush while still in Texas.

"I think it is a sign of how seriously the president takes the importance of managing the federal workforce well and efficiently for the taxpayers that somebody who is this close to the president and this trusted by the president would move to a spot like this," Fleischer said.