In this article, Larry Gibbs comments on President Obama's delay of more than 14 months in nominating a commissioner to run the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Currently, Danny Werfel, controller of the Office of Management and Budget, is running the IRS and is a leading candidate for the nomination. Gibbs, who served as IRS Commissioner from 1986 to 1989, said he has been "very impressed" with Werfel's work so far.

According to Gibbs, the next commissioner "is going to have to have real leadership skills, the ability to motivate and restore morale." Werfel has "said the right things," Gibbs said, citing his recruitment of David Fisher from the Government Accountability Office to assess the risks facing the IRS. "He appears to me to have done the right things."