Warren Presses IRS Chief Counsel Nominee on Conflicts of Interest with Trump and Tax-Dodging Corporations, Urges Stronger Ethics Commitments

Letter argues Gadwood’s conflicts could “cloud judgment… [and] raise questions about the integrity of … [IRS] decisions.” Text of Letter (PDF) Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate Finance Committee, pressed James Gadwood, nominee to be Chief Counsel for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), to make a series of ethics commitments ahead of his September 15 hearing before the Senate Finance Committee. “Given your background as a senior lawyer and member for a firm that represents large, tax-dodging corporations and the President’s private business interests, I am concerned that, if confirmed, you would enter this role with significant conflicts of interest that could cloud your judgment or raise questions about the integrity of official decisions in which you are involved,” wrote Senator Warren . Gadwood serves as the vice chair of the tax department of the law firm Miller & Chevalier, which has represented President Trump in his personal capacity on tax matters and represented a number of large corporations in their disputes against the IRS. In his required financial disclosures, Gadwood disclosed the law firm received at least $5,000 in compensation from DJT Holdings LLC, one of President Trump’s main holding companies. But the disclosures do not provide enough information to determine how much in total Gadwood or the firm received from DJT Holdings, and he has refused to provide additional information on whether he personally represented the President or his interests. If confirmed, Gadwood would be the chief legal advisor to the IRS Commissioner on all matters related to the interpretation, administration, and enforcement of the Internal Revenue Code. “In light of your firm’s previous engagement on behalf of DJT Holdings on tax matters, and your position as vice chair of Miller & Chevalier’s tax department, the public might reasonably wonder whether you would be biased in the President’s favor,” wrote the senator. “The public might also reasonably wonder whether you will return to Miller & Chevalier when your term as IRS Chief Counsel expires, in which case you might be motivated to advise the IRS in the President’s favor in anticipation of his being a client of yours after your service in government,” continued the senator. Senator Warren urged Gadwood to go beyond his required ethics commitment and also commit to: Recuse himself for four years from all specific-party particular matters involving his former clients and employers and all particular matters that are likely to directly and predictably affect their financial interests. Commit not to seek compensation from a company that has been engaged in a dispute or other interaction with the IRS regarding which he provided legal advice for at least four years after leaving office. Commit not to legally represent President Trump, his family, or any related organizations for at least four years after leaving office. Commit not to serve as a registered lobbyist or informal “shadow lobbyist” for four years after leaving office. Senator Warren noted that President Biden’s IRS Chief Counsel Marjorie Rollinson made many of these same ethics commitments before being confirmed by the Senate. “By making these commitments, you would increase Americans’ trust in your ability to serve the public interest — rather than the special interests of the President or mega-corporations seeking tax breaks — during your time at the IRS,” concluded Senator Warren . Senator Warren has led the fight to root out corruption and hold President Trump and his administration accountable for their apparent attempts to profit from their government roles: In August 2026, following a social media post from Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (RFK Jr.), Senator Elizabeth Warren wrote to RFK Jr. asking whether he has changed his ethics agreement, and if so, how and when any changes were made. The letter builds on an investigation into whether RFK Jr.’s family may be financially benefitting from a $50 million anti-vaccine settlement he could have influenced as HHS Secretary. In August 2026, Senator Elizabeth Warren pressed President Donald Trump on his recent financial disclosures, which reveal 3,555 individual stock trades worth up to half a billion dollars in just the first three months of 2026 and more than 14,000 stock trades worth up to $1.06 billion during Trump’s first year in office. In August 2026, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) pressed Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC) and David Gotlib Luxury Cufflinks over the decision to gift President Trump an 18-karat gold, diamond-encrusted ring shortly before the Trump administration announced tariff exemptions on European diamonds. In June 2026, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) pressed Dr. Erich Hernandez-Baquero, a current Raytheon executive nominated for Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Space Acquisition and Integration, to make a series of ethics commitments, including recusing himself for four years from all matters related to his former employer, committing to not work for a defense contractor for four years after leaving government service, and commit to not lobby the Department of Defense (DoD) for at least four years after leaving his new role. In June 2026, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Ranking Member of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations; Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Ranking Member of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs; Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary; and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Finance, wrote to the Republican Chairs of their respective Committees urging immediate hearings on the Trump family’s cryptocurrency firm and its ties to a foreign government that subsequently received advanced U.S. AI chips and a major arms deal. In June 2026, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), along with Representatives Jason Crow (D-Colo.) and Mike Levin (D-Calif.), pressed White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles following reports that the White House interfered to deliver a lucrative Department of Defense (DoD) contract to Vulcan Elements, a key Trump Jr.-linked company. In June 2026, at a hearing of the Senate Finance Committee, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) pressed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on whether President Donald Trump’s stock trades pose a conflict of interest, highlighting Secretary Bessent’s previous statements in support of a congressional stock trading ban. Secretary Bessent defended President Trump’s trades, ignoring Senator Warren’s push for an investigation into potential insider trading. In May 2023, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), along with 22 of her Senate colleagues, reintroduced the Presidential Conflicts of Interest Act , legislation that would require the President and Vice President to disclose and divest any potential financial conflicts of interest. The bill would also require presidential appointees to recuse themselves from any matters involving the president’s financial conflicts of interest that come before their agencies. In January 2026, Senators Warren (D-Mass.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), and Andy Kim (D-N.J.) pressed Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on potential conflicts of interest surrounding the awarding of multiple lucrative Department of Defense (DoD) contracts and loans to companies associated with President Donald Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr. In December 2020, Senator Warren (D-Mass.) and Representative Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) reintroduced the Anti-Corruption & Public Integrity Act to strengthen ethics laws and crack down on government officials’ conflicts of interest across the government. ###