Wyden Blasts Trump and Republicans for Killing IRS Direct File Program

Wyden Blasts Trump and Republicans for Killing IRS Direct File Program

As Prepared for Delivery

It's Tax Day, April 15th. The anti-holiday. This tax day in particular is a rough one, beyond the usual frustration and expense of filing your taxes.

Tax Day 2026 is a reminder that Donald Trump and Republicans will put the interests of giant corporations ahead of the interests of typical Americans every time out. There is no clearer example of Trump corruption in practice than betraying taxpayers and killing the Direct File program as a favor to his allies in the multi-billion-dollar tax software industry.

Here's what this is all about. When it comes to taxes, Democrats start with the proposition that for the vast majority of Americans -- wage-earning workers whose taxes really aren't all that complicated -- filing your taxes ought to be easy and free. Our view is, you shouldn't have to pay a penny to perform your basic civic duty.

That's why back in 2022, after years of hard work, we passed funding for the IRS to build a Direct File program -- a way for taxpayers to file directly with the IRS online for free.

The IRS launched a pilot program for 2024. They expanded it for 2025. Hundreds of thousands of people used Direct File. It was immensely popular -- a beloved program among its users.

A lot of people are skeptical the government is still capable of building useful things. Direct File proved the skeptics wrong and proved that the federal government is still capable of building a great public service from the ground up.

Well, the tax prep giants saw it as a threat. They unleashed a tidal wave of lobbying to try to squash the program before it reached escape velocity.

They found willing partners in Republicans in Congress and the Trump administration.

Going into this year, Trump and Republicans killed Direct File. Millions of Americans should have had the opportunity to use it to file for free -- but now they're back at the mercy of the tax prep companies. The Republicans who killed Direct File say it's no big deal because there are other free options out there -- programs that partner with the private companies. The reality is, the tax prep companies have already demonstrated they can't be trusted on this issue.

The worst example was Intuit. When Intuit was involved with the free file program, it was caught burying the free option on a website you couldn't find with a traditional search engine. It steered users toward options that battered them with upcharges and misleading marketing. Finally they quit offering a free file when they got called out on their underhanded tactics.

My view is, the debate over this subject isn't all that complicated. The government requires people to file and pay taxes, so the least the government ought to do is make the tax filing process simple, free, and as painless as possible.

Donald Trump and Republicans disagree. Because they destroyed a wonderful new public service when they shut down Direct File.

My Finance Committee colleague Senator Warren has been a tremendous champion of Direct File.

I've enjoyed working with her for many years now on this issue. I'm behind her effort to revive Direct File 100 percent. We are not going to let this go. No matter how long it takes.

I urge all my colleagues to get on board and support Direct File.

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