(Zero Hedge)—Nearly two months after a top Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) official and support team arrived at IRS headquarters to investigate waste and fraud—aiming to streamline a bloated and corrupt federal bureaucracy—the Trump administration has begun a sizeable workforce reduction across the federal agency.
Fox News reported late Friday evening that the IRS will begin laying off about 20,000 staffers — up to 25% of the workforce — on Friday and through next week.
Most job cuts will center around the IRS Office of Civil Rights and Compliance, which protects taxpayers from discrimination, audits, and investigations.
White House spokesperson Liz Huston told Fox News, “In a stark contrast to the previous administration’s wildly unpopular plan to hire thousands of additional IRS agents, President Trump is focused on saving tax dollars, eliminating bloat, axing useless DEI offices, and increasing the agency’s efficiency.”
Here’s more from Fox:
In addition to the layoffs, the agency said in a letter to employees that it is eliminating its Office of Civil Rights and Compliance, which is responsible for protecting taxpayers from discrimination, audits and investigations.
. . .
“This action is being taken to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the IRS in accordance with agency priorities and the Workforce Optimization Initiative outlined in a recent Executive Order,” the letter states, referring to President Donald Trump’s executive order directing the Department of Government Efficiency to get rid of wasteful spending.
The agency said it was approved to offer Voluntary Early Retirement Authority (VERA) and Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment (VSIP). Information about those programs will be shared with employees at a later date, the message said.
“This calendar year to date, approximately 5% of this office left through the Deferred Resignation Program and attrition,” the message said. “An additional 75% of the office will be reduced through a RIF (Reduction in Force).”
A Treasury Department spokesperson told Fox News, “The rollback of wasteful Biden-era hiring surges and consolidation of critical support functions are vital to improving both efficiency and quality of service. ” The spokesperson added, “The Secretary is committed to ensuring that efficiency is realized while providing the collections, privacy, and customer service the American people deserve.”
Last week, the latest Challenger tracking data showed that DOGE-related layoffs have topped 280,253 across 27 agencies.
Meet the largest individual taxpayer in IRS history…
DOGE is now auditing the IRS to identify waste, abuse, and fraud.
The IRS will now explain how it spent over $10 billion in taxes paid by Elon Musk, making him the largest individual taxpayer in history. pic.twitter.com/lBx4Uo7tqi
— SMX 🇺🇸 (@iam_smx) February 17, 2025
Also, Goldman just released its real-time DC economic impact tracker as the Trump administration drains the corrupt DC swamp.
I look forward to the day when we can read about how the IRS has been shut down!
So many corrupt agencies, so little time…
An IRS department to protect taxpayers against discrimination, audits and I vestigationby itself?
Fox and hen house come to mind.
We wouldn’t need an IRS if they implemented a flat tax with no deductions.
A flat tax still needs too many people, implement the FAIR tax.
Would like to see their little private army all fired and free up some ammo for the civilian sector.
It would be cut a whole lot more than 25% if there was a plan to eliminate the Income Tax, which has been promised a lot but is nowhere in any draft legislation.
Collection agents for foreign banks should not even exist in America.
we need to end the federal slavery racket that forces Americans to work to fund their government, and in turn end the IRS.
DOGE… must be doing a great job….. it took them only five days to process and send my Federal tax refund… in the bank….. AMAZING HOW s-u-d-d-e-n-l-y with a fire lit under their butts they ACTUALLY start doing their jobs!
The investigative people with the IRS should either be disarmed, or sent t stand guard on the Mexican ( Or Canadian) border.
Take the gun toting ones and send them to work with ICE teams.
And since they are such dangerous agents,, send them in first.
I hope this is just the first step in shuttering the agency for good! The government should not have its hand in anyone’s pocket!
The Unions in this country will destroy any and all enterprise in this country. They are sourly responsible for company’s leaving this country. They blow up idiots heads with all this self entitlement and attitude then they the union bosses are the only ones who profit and then the company’s move off sure.
During the last 6 months the rumor was that Trump was going to abolish the IRS due to the headaches, weaponization and the targeting problems it has caused both Trump himself and his many businesses.
Wasn’t this a campaign promise?
The IRS was formed only to collect tax on Puerto Rican Rum in 1913, and amended in 1918 to tax everyone.
Read the late Congressman George Hanson’s book titled ‘To Harass Our People; The IRS and the Government Abuse of Power’.
Hanson was imprisoned, tortured, (much like what happened to Congressman Jim Traficant, and what the Deep State tried to do to Donald Trump…) and maligned by the Zionist supporters of Israel which relies on taxpayer funds to send billions of dollars to the same!
COME ON, TRUMP-FLUSH THE F@#KING IRS AND GIVE US A FLAT TAX OF 4%…!