President Donald Trump has replaced the acting commissioner of the IRS after his appointment just days earlier set off a power struggle between Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and billionaire Elon Musk, five people with knowledge of the change said Friday.

Bessent’s deputy, Michael Faulkender, will be the new acting leader, replacing Gary Shapley, the Treasury Department confirmed Friday. Faulkender will be the third acting leader of the agency this week.

Bessent had complained to Trump this week that Musk had done an end run around him to get Shapley installed as the interim head of the IRS, even though the tax collection agency reports to Bessent, the people familiar with the situation said. They spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.

The clash was the latest instance of Musk’s influence in the Trump administration that has alarmed top officials. It was also the latest upheaval at the tax agency, with much of its staff pushed out or quitting. Trump earlier this week called for the IRS to revoke Harvard University’s tax-exempt status after the school refused to impose sweeping changes demanded by the administration.

An IRS spokesperson declined to comment on the leadership changes.

Shapley, a longtime IRS agent, gained fame among conservatives after he claimed that the Justice Department had slow-walked its investigation into Hunter Biden’s taxes.

Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency pushed Shapley’s appointment through White House channels, but Bessent was not consulted or asked for his blessing, according to those with knowledge of the dynamic. Bessent then got Trump’s approval to unwind the decision within days, they said. Shapley had been working from the IRS commissioner’s office as late as Friday morning.

“Trust must be brought back to the IRS, and I am fully confident that Deputy Secretary Michael Faulkender is the right man for the moment,” Bessent said in a statement Friday afternoon. The position of IRS commissioner will be filled in an acting capacity while former Rep. Billy Long awaits Senate approval for the role.

In his statement, Bessent praised Shapley for his “passion and thoughtfulness” and said that he remains an important adviser. Shapley and another IRS critic of the Hunter Biden tax investigation, Joseph Ziegler, will be assigned to senior roles at the Treasury Department or the IRS.

Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, did not address the details of the dispute but said, “It’s no secret President Trump has put together a team of people who are incredibly passionate about the issues impacting our country.”

“Disagreements are a normal part of any healthy policy process,” Leavitt said. “And ultimately everyone knows they serve at the pleasure of President Trump.”

Trump had picked Shapley to run the IRS on Tuesday after the previous interim head, Melanie Krause, chose to resign. Krause quit after the Treasury Department agreed to use IRS data to help Immigration and Customs Enforcement deport immigrants living in the country without legal permission.

Treasury officials had hoped to persuade Krause, who had aligned with the administration on other issues, to stay in her job until at least May 15. While she had signed up for the administration’s deferred resignation program, Krause remained in the role until Musk forced the change Tuesday and helped install Shapley.

The feud between Musk and Bessent went public late Thursday night, when Musk amplified a social media post from far-right researcher Laura Loomer accusing Bessent of colluding with a “Trump hater.”

“Troubling,” Musk wrote about Bessent meeting John Hope Bryant, the CEO of the nonprofit Operation HOPE. Bryant is working on a financial literacy effort with Treasury officials.

Loomer had called that meeting a “vetting failure.”

Loomer helped push out several officials from the National Security Council earlier this month, after first attacking some of them online and then meeting with Trump in the Oval Office and presenting him with a list of those she deemed disloyal.

Trump’s decision to side with Bessent in the dispute over the IRS comes as Musk has been a less visible presence around Trump in recent weeks, and officials across the administration say he has been less of a headache than they had found him in the first several weeks of the second Trump presidency.

Musk’s moves to secure advisers in high-level posts across key agencies as part of his government-shrinking DOGE, and his methods to try to wrangle federal workers have roiled some Cabinet secretaries, even those who favor his overall goal of reform.

Trump still speaks warmly of Musk, and Trump’s advisers have taken note that the billionaire has said he wants to donate another $100 million through political entities controlled by the president’s team. But the president has also privately acknowledged that Musk has made missteps. Trump has said that he believes Musk will return to his private companies before too long. As a special government employee, Musk is allotted 130 days of time on the job. But if he works part time, he may be able to extend his time in government.