WASHINGTON (AP) — Mary L. Smith would have been the top enforcer of the nation's tax laws, the highest Justice Department position ever attained by a Native American.

But in a two-year saga that is pure Washington, the leadership post she was to occupy remains vacant.

So the Justice Department's tax enforcement team heads into a third-straight federal tax-filing season without a chief chosen by the president and confirmed by the Senate. And the Obama White House is still hunting for a new nominee.