Bush to name IRS commissioner

President Bush plans to nominate Douglas Shulman to be commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service. Shulman is vice chairman of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, which was previously known as the National Association of Securities Dealers. The White House made the announcement Nov. 21.Shulman would replace Mark Everson, who left IRS in April to become president and chief executive officer of the American Red Cross. Linda Stiff, deputy IRS commissioner for services and enforcement, has been serving as acting commissioner. In his current position, Shulman oversees the authority’s technology, registration and disclosure; industry testing; and continuing education. He also is responsible for its market transparency facilities.Earlier in his career, Shulman was senior policy adviser and later chief of staff at the bipartisan National Commission on Restructuring the IRS. He was also vice president of Darby Overseas Investments.The Treasury Department’s secretary, Henry Paulson Jr., said Shulman was an excellent choice to lead IRS.“His energy, creativity, strong management skills and technology experience will ensure that the IRS fully serves its mission to provide America's taxpayers top quality service by helping them understand and meet their tax responsibilities and by applying the tax law with integrity and fairness,” Paulson said in a statement the day Bush made his announcement.Shulman received his bachelor's degree from Williams College, his master's degree from Harvard University and his J.D. from Georgetown University.In another Treasury leadership selection, Paulson appointed Judith Tillman commissioner of the department’s Financial Management Service effective Jan. 4, 2008. She will replace Kenneth Papaj, who is retiring Jan. 3. For the past 18 months, she has been the service’s deputy commissioner.Before that, Tillman was FMS’ assistant commissioner for regional operations and was responsible for issuing federal payments for hundreds of agencies at FMS finance centers. Tillman has worked at FMS and IRS for more than 34 years.Papaj, who was at Treasury for 34 years, was dedicated to improving governmentwide financial management, Paulson said. In key executive positions in the past 20 years, Papaj was instrumental in modernizing federal disbursements, revenue collections, central accounting, debt collection and the regulation of government securities.“He has been a highly respected leader in the financial management community,” Paulson said. He also praised Papaj for his efforts to “improve Treasury's relationship with chief financial officers across the government, for ensuring operational excellence throughout FMS and for his genuine commitment to our strategic goal of the all-electronic Treasury.”As the government’s banker, FMS is responsible for payments and collections and annually processes $3 trillion in federal revenues and collects $3.5 billion in delinquent debt.