Is the I.R.S. an Independent Agency? There is no evidence that President Obama knew about the Internal Revenue Service's recent practice of singling out conservative groups that applied for tax-exempt status, subjecting them to unusually detailed questioning. Calling the reports "outrageous," he has promised to "make sure that we find out exactly what happened on this." That's as it should be. But the president misspoke on Monday when he said that the I.R.S. was an "independent agency." It is not. One distinction between an executive agency and an independent agency is that the president, typically, cannot dismiss the head of the latter without serious cause. Independent agencies include the Securities and Exchange Commission, the National Labor Relations Board, the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Trade Commission. By contrast, the law governing the I.R.S. states that the president can remove the commissioner at will. The commissioner reports to the secretary of the treasury through the deputy secretary. Federal law does include special provisions to ban presidential meddling in the I.R.S. It also gives the I.R.S. commissioner a 5-year term, which helps insulate the agency from the politics of the four-year presidential cycle. History also provides presidents with a reason never to mess with the I.R.S., given that President Richard Nixon's fall from power involved misuse of the agency to harass political foes with unwarranted audits of their personal tax returns. By law and by practice, the Treasury keeps an arms-length relationship with the I.R.S. on matters of tax administration, enforcement and "process," which basically means that it doesn't ask the I.R.S. for information about taxpayers. But on matters of tax policy and regulations, it works closely with the I.R.S. For what it's worth, the last confirmed commissioner of the I.R.S. was Douglas H. Shulman. He was appointed by President George W. Bush and served a full term from 2008 through 2012, including the period when I.R.S. employees are said to have put added demands on conservative groups applying for tax exempt status. Investigators told Congressional staffers that Mr. Shulman was informed of the problems in May of 2012. Since Mr. Shulman's term ended, the agency has been run by an acting commissioner, Steven T. Miller, who has had a long career at the I.R.S., including as deputy commissioner and commissioner overseeing tax exempt organizations. Mr. Miller, apparently, was also informed about the problems last May. Mr. Obama has yet to nominate a new commissioner, and given Senate Republicans" refusal to confirm many of his nominees, it is doubtful that such an important post will be filled - leaving the agency, the administration and the nation especially vulnerable to mismanagement and its inevitable political fallout.