According to three sources familiar with the agency’s intentions, the Internal Revenue Service will reportedly now start firing some 6,000 workers on Thursday as part of the Trump administration’s effort to reduce the size of the federal workforce.
According to confidential sources contacted by the New York Times, the terminations will target relatively recent recruits at the I.R.S., which the Biden administration had tried to reinvigorate with a rush of funds and new staff.
Probationary workers, who have less job security than their more senior counterparts, have been let go by the Trump administration throughout the federal government in recent days.
According to texts seen by The New York Times, I.R.S. management started requesting that staff members report to work in the next few days and bring their government-issued equipment with them. Approximately 100,000 accountants, attorneys, and other employees work for the IRS nationwide.
These layoffs occur throughout the tax filing season.
Even though the layoffs are not expected to impact those considered “critical,” Democrats and former I.R.S. officials have cautioned that losing so many workers might nevertheless make it difficult for millions of Americans to pay their taxes this year.
Requests for comment were not immediately answered by Treasury Department and I.R.S. representatives.
Republicans have long called for the I.R.S. to be slashed, claiming that the agency is acting politically against conservatives.
The tax collector should be abolished, according to several lawmakers, including the person President Trump nominated to lead the agency.
In an extraordinary move, Mr. Trump replaced former commissioner Daniel Werfel with former Republican congressman Billy Long to head the I.R.S.
The Department of Homeland Security has requested I.R.S. agents to assist with immigration enforcement, and Mr. Trump has already targeted the agency for an extended hiring freeze.
Additionally, a representative of Elon Musk’s purported Department of Government Efficiency has requested extensive access to the tax agency’s private taxpayer data.
[READ MORE: Fox Star Katie Pavlich Refers to Medhi Hasan as a ‘Terrorist’]
