First head rolls in IRS scandal

Steven Miller, the acting Internal Revenue Service (IRS) commissioner, resigned Wednesday over his role in the agency’s singling out of conservative groups, President Obama announced at the White House.

{mosads}Miller’s resignation, which Treasury Secretary Jack Lew requested on Wednesday, makes him the first IRS official to lose his or her job in the uproar over the agency’s actions, which were first disclosed publicly last week.

“It’s important to institute new leadership that can help restore confidence going forward,” Obama said in a short statement.

Obama, speaking one day after a Treasury inspector general’s report found “ineffective management” at the agency, added that he had directed Lew to implement the audit’s recommendations quickly.

The president also said that his administration would work closely with lawmakers in both parties to investigate the extra scrutiny that the IRS gave to conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status.

“Congress, Democrats and Republicans, owe it to the American people to treat that authority with the responsibility it deserves, and in a way that doesn’t smack of politics or partisan agendas,” Obama said.

“Across the board, everybody believes what happened, as reported in the IG’s report, is an outrage,” he added. “The good news is it’s fixable.”

Miller said in a letter announcing his resignation to colleagues that he would leave the agency, where has worked for a quarter century, in early June.

“This has been an incredibly difficult time for the IRS given the events of the past few days, and there is a strong and immediate need to restore public trust in the nation’s tax agency,” Miller wrote in the letter, which was released by the agency.

“I believe the Service will benefit from having a new Acting Commissioner in place during this challenging period.”

Miller will still testify on Friday before the House Ways and Means Committee, a panel aide said Wednesday. The hearing will be the first held on Capitol Hill over the scrutiny given to conservative groups.

— Published at 6:36 p.m. and last updated at 7:16 p.m.