Trump and DOGE Will Reportedly Lay Off Thousands of IRS Workers – ‘Likely Targeting Tax Collection’

Brandon Bell/Pool via AP

The “Department of Government Efficiency” is set to hobble the ability of the Internal Revenue Service to collect taxes, The Washington Post reported on Friday.

President Donald Trump and his billionaire benefactor Elon Musk are expected to lay off thousands of workers at the IRS as part of DOGE’s ostensible mission to reduce the federal budget deficit. “The layoffs are likely targeting tax collection, several people briefed on the matter said,” according to the Post. Hampering the agency’s ability to enforce tax laws, however, would seem to cut against deficit reduction.

The Post reported:

Treasury officials have discussed laying off roughly 9,000 employees still in their probationary period as part of broader dismissals across the government of these recently hired workers, according to the six people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to reveal internal conversations. That number could not be immediately confirmed, and spokespeople both for the IRS and Treasury declined to comment. The cuts could start as soon as Friday.

The layoffs are likely targeting tax collection, several of the people briefed on the matter said. Indeed, associates of Musk’s team are beginning to meet with high-ranking IRS officials about what could prove dramatic changes to the tax agency. Gavin Kliger, a software engineer now working at the IRS, met with Ken Corbin, the IRS’s chief of taxpayer services, and Heather Maloy, the agency’s top enforcement official, during his first day at the agency’s headquarters Thursday, according to several of the people familiar with the meetings.

The IRS increased staff size thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act passed during the Biden administration, which hired roughly 10,000 new agents to bolster tax enforcement on high-income Americans.

Musk and his team of young DOGE aides have been going from department to department, cutting staff and freezing spending. The moves have prompted several lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the actions, which many legal scholars have deemed illegal.

The timing of the cuts could not come at a more crucial time for the agency, as tax season is underway ahead of the April filing deadline.