Senate Schedules Confirmation Hearing for IRS Commissioner

The Senate Committee on Finance has scheduled a hearing on Tuesday, December 10 to consider the nomination of John Andrew Koskinen to become the new commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service for a term expiring November 12, 2017.  Koskinen would succeed Douglas H. Shulman, whose term has expired. 

He graduated Magna Cum Laude with a BA in physics from Duke University in 1961; graduated with an LLB, Cum Laude, (JD) from Yale University School of Law in 1964; and did post graduate work in Cambridge University, England, from 1964 to 1965.   

Koskinen served as President of the U.S. Soccer Foundation from 2004-2008. He previously served as the Deputy Mayor of the District of Columbia, the Deputy Director for Management of the Office of Management and Budget, and then later President Clinton's Chair of the President's Council on Y2K, 2000 Conversion, the Year 2000 problem. He presently also serves on the boards of AES and American Capital, Ltd. On March 11, 2009, he was announced as the interim CEO at Freddie Mac. On April 23, 2009, he became the Principal Financial Officer after the death of Freddie Mac's acting CFO. In August, 2009, with the hiring of a new CEO, he returned to his position as non-Executive Chairman of the Board of Freddie Mac. 

Prior to entering government service, Koskinen worked for 21 years for the Palmieri Company as Vice President, President, CEO and Chairman, working on the turnaround of large, failed enterprises such as the Penn Central Transportation Company, Levitt and Sons, the Teamsters Pension Fund and Mutual Benefit. Koskinen also chaired the Washington, D.C. Host Committee for the 1994 World Cup and the Duke University Board of Trustees. He is a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration.

On August 1, 2013, the White House announced President Obama had nominated Koskinen as the next commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service. 

Koskinen was born June 30, 1939 in Cleveland, Ohio. He is married to Patricia Salz and has a daughter Cheryl and a son Jeffery.  Koskinen Stadium at Duke University that hosts the Duke soccer and lacrosse teams was named and dedicated in 1999 in honor of the support of John and Patricia Koskinen.

Sources:  US Senate Committee on Finance; Wikipedia