Naming of IRS Chief Delayed

WASHINGTON--The question of whether parents should be allowed a tax deduction for a fetus that lives only moments after an abortion is blocking Senate confirmation of Lawrence B. Gibbs to be IRS commissioner.

Because of the abortion issue, the IRS is operating without a commissioner at a time when Congress is writing the final version of a major tax-overhaul plan.

Roscoe L. Egger Jr. retired on April 30. Gibbs' nomination was recommended unanimously by the Senate Finance Committee on June 24.