The layoffs are part of the Trump administration’s effort to cut the federal workforce through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), whose adviser is Elon Musk.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will begin laying off about 7,000 employees in Washington and across the country starting Thursday, the New York Times reported, citing three people familiar with the matter.
The layoffs target probationary employees who have been employed for less than a year. Most of them are compliance staff, responsible for ensuring taxpayers comply with tax laws, filing tax returns and other administrative tasks.
This is part of the Trump administration’s effort to cut the federal workforce through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), whose adviser is billionaire Elon Musk.
The layoffs come in the middle of tax filing season and it’s unclear how they might affect tax collection services this year.
In the United States, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is one of the most powerful agencies of the federal government responsible for collecting taxes, auditing, and enforcing tax laws.
As the nation’s tax agency, the IRS — under Biden — is tasked with cracking down on wealthy tax evaders to increase revenue. By the end of 2024, the IRS had collected more than $1.3 billion in back taxes from wealthy tax evaders.
According to the latest IRS data, the agency has a total of about 90,000 employees across the United States.
In addition to the planned layoffs, the Trump administration intends to loan IRS employees to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to assist with immigration enforcement. In a letter sent earlier this month, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem asked Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to lend IRS employees to support immigration enforcement efforts.
As of February 14, more than 9,500 US government employees had been laid off under the administration’s streamlining campaign led by Mr. Trump and his adviser Elon Musk. That number is in addition to the roughly 75,000 employees who have accepted severance packages offered by the administration. According to the White House, that number is equivalent to about 3% of the total 2.3 million federal civilian employees.