President Donald Trump is planning to axe 9,000 jobs at the Internal Revenue Service.
According to a report from The Washington Post, the cuts will target workers who are still in their probation period, and are expected to begin imminently.
The report states, “The Trump administration is expected to begin laying off thousands of employees at the Internal Revenue Service, six people briefed on the matter said, as billionaire Elon Musk’s team begins to target tax collections.
“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 requested anonymity to speak about internal conversations.”
The jobcuts come as Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency begins auditing the Service. DOGE workers entered the IRS building on Thursday.
The news has prompted outrage and panic among President Trump’s opponents.
Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon claimed Elon Musk might be leading the audit of the IRS in order to gain sensitive data about American taxpayers.
“My office is hearing that DOGE is now at the IRS,” Wyden wrote on X.
“That means Musk’s henchmen are in a position to dig through a trove of data about every taxpayer in America. And if your refund is delayed, they could very well be the reason.”
Joe Biden gave the IRS an additional $80 billion in 2022, under the Inflation Reduction Act, to hire 87,000 more employees. The Service requested a further $20 billion last spring to employ 14,000 more people.