Acting chief counsel William Paul has been reportedly demoted because he refused to cooperate with Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, as DOGE representatives allegedly sought to share taxpayer information with other federal agencies.

The Internal Revenue Service’s acting chief counsel, William Paul, has been removed from his role at the agency and replaced by Andrew De Mello, an attorney in the chief counsel’s office who is deemed supportive of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency,

People tied to Elon Musk‘s DOGE have been working at the IRS for several weeks and have been interested in how they can use the tax agency’s data.

The Trump administration has demoted its top Internal Revenue Service lawyer and replaced him after the Department of Government Efficiency received pushback while trying to obtain confidential taxpayer information.

Acting IRS chief counsel Paul is, according to the sources, being demoted from his position and replaced by Andrew De Mello. The sources are reported to have said that Paul was removed because he clashed with DOGE’s alleged push to share tax information with multiple agencies.

The Trump administration is removing the Internal Revenue Service’s top attorney, according to two sources familiar with the move, amid an internal debate over sharing confidential taxpayer information with other government agencies.

The acting chief counsel of the Internal Revenue Service has been removed from his position as billionaire Elon Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service seeks access to sensitive taxpayer records, according to