The Tax Woman Cometh

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March 09, 2009 2:09 PM

Politico today names perhaps the most powerful woman in Washington, D.C.  And unless you’ve been considered for a key Obama administration post –- or work for the Senate Finance Committee -- I can just about guarantee you’ve never heard of her.

Mary Baker, an IRS bureaucrat detailed to the Senate panel, has diligently flagged tax problems on numerous Obama administration appointees, torpedoing some (would-have-been HHS secretary Tom Daschle, for instance) and causing headaches for others, reports Politico.

Largely thanks to Baker and her team, unpaid taxes have become the nanny problem of the Obama administration.  In addition to Daschle, Obama’s pick for Chief Performance Officer, Nancy Killefer, withdrew after she was found to owe back taxes (though she wasn’t vetted by the Finance committee). And supposedly talented candidates for other posts have reportedly pulled out, fearing Baker's green eyeshade.

Baker’s team scrubbed Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner’s finances, who was found to owe thousands to the IRS but got confirmed anyway; U.S. Trade Representative appointee Ron Kirk owed, too, but he looks set to clear Senate approval. 

The issue has been so pervasive, the Los Angeles Times wondered this past week if anyone had checked the tax returns of the Obama vetters who were supposed to be checking the tax returns.

Some have grumbled that the tax scrutiny is hurting the prospects for good administration picks. But as the Finance Committee’s former top lawyer wondered aloud to Politico’s Ken Vogel, “What if no one was doing it, and we had public officials who weren’t paying their taxes? What would that say about the system?”