Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Monday accused the Biden administration of targeting his family with a “rushed” tax audit, posting an unverified document showing he owes the IRS more than $33,000 in taxes.
Hegseth posted on social media a screenshot of what he claimed was an IRS letter sent to him and his wife. The document said the family’s federal income tax return showed they owed the government $33,558.16, which needed to be paid immediately to avoid further penalties.
“Of course the outgoing Biden IRS rushed an ‘audit’ of the incoming SecDef. Total sham,” Hegseth wrote on X. “The party of ‘norms’ and ‘decency’ strikes again. We will never back down.”
The IRS has not publicly commented on the audit, the accuracy of which Hegseth has not denied. It’s not clear whether the IRS initiated the audit due to concerns regarding the couple’s tax filings or if it was part of a routine review.
The Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment from The Hill.
Tax returns and the financial dealings of potential Cabinet members are often scrutinized during the confirmation process and have derailed nominees in the past.
Then-Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.), President Trump’s choice for White House budget director in 2017, was discovered to have failed to pay more than $15,000 in payroll taxes for a household employee. He ultimately made it through the confirmation process. (Mulvaney is now a contributor to NewsNation, owned by Nexstar, which also owns The Hill.)
And in 2009, President Obama’s choice to lead the Health and Human Services Department, former Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), had to withdraw his nomination after it was found that he had paid roughly $140,000 in back taxes related to some consulting income and a car and driver provided to him by a former employer.
During his nomination hearing, Hegseth was grilled by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), over his tax returns while working for two veterans support nonprofits.
But Republican lawmakers are likely to scrutinize Hegseth’s IRS audit, with Elon Musk, the head of President Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, responding to Hegseth’s post by saying, “They love the low blows.”
