You’re going to love this one.
The Trump administration and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) are reportedly floating a 20 percent cut to the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) workforce.
CNN reported that President Donald Trump is looking to significantly downsize the agency by May 15, according to an email sent out by DOGE.
The details of the IRS proposal have been laid out in an email from DOGE and will be discussed at a meeting among agency leadership Thursday morning, according to a source familiar with the matter who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation. The proposal has not been made public.
The latest round of layoffs would terminate nearly 6,800 employees — on top of about 6,700 probationary employees who have already been fired and 4,700 employees who took the “voluntary buyout” known as the “Fork in the Road” program from the Trump administration. Probationary employees are hires who generally have have been on the job for less than a year.
It’s unclear how many of the roughly 6,700 fired probationary employees will be reinstated as a result of a major court ruling Thursday, which ordered the Trump administration to bring back probationary workers that were terminated from six federal agencies, including the Treasury Department, the IRS’ parent agency.
Echoing concerns sounded by experts and other employees, the source says these cuts could impact the amount of revenue the IRS brings in and that could ripple through the federal government as IRS funds nearly all government operations. While April 15 is the deadline for tax returns to be filed, the agency processes tax returns year-round.
One source told the news outlet that this move “could dramatically reduce revenue, dramatically reduce customer service.”
Don’t threaten us with a good time, Mr. Source.
A current IRS employee indicated that Trump’s ongoing efforts to shrink the federal government have affected workers. He noted that “More and more of our workdays are taken up by questions, meetings, new issues coming down the pike and new directives from outside our agency.”
He further complained that “all we want to do is do our jobs.”
The Washington Post reported that DOGE instructed the acting IRS commissioner to cut over 18,000 jobs by May 15.
The tax compliance department would have the largest job cuts (8,260) followed by taxpayer services (3,247) and information technology, the records show. Those moves are only an initial phase of job cuts.
Gavin Kliger, a DOGE software engineer embedded at the IRS, has signaled to agency leadership plans for further headcount reductions, according to two of the people.
DOGE sparked controversy when it was reported that the team sought to gain access to taxpayer data. Some expressed concerns about the potential exposure of sensitive personal information.
The Department of Homeland Security also reportedly pressed the IRS for the addresses of almost one million illegal immigrants.
This is a positive sign. If any agency needs some serious shrinking, it is the IRS. This is a serious departure from the Biden administration, which sought to expand the agency and squeeze more money out of hardworking Americans.
Now, after this is done, can we start talking about destroying the IRS once and for all? Hey, a man can dream, right?