Jorge Castro, former Counselor to the IRS Commissioner and former Congressional tax counsel, commented on IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel's statements promoting the agency's recent successes. Castro said Werfel's comments were likely meant to coincide with IRS budget negotiations in Congress. Facing potential budget cuts, Castro said the IRS is advocating for itself and hopes to increase support among lawmakers who might be open to preserving some or all of its funding but need policy reasons to do so. If lawmakers "see refunds moving faster, backlogs diminishing, IRS being responsive and moving faster and picking up the line - that has an impact," he said.