WASHINGTON (DC News Now) — The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will lay off thousands of probationary employees in the midst of tax filing season as soon as this week.
It’s unclear how many workers will be let go. Probationary employees are typically new in their positions. They operate under probationary status for one to two years.
The terminations come as the Trump administration aggressively seeks to shrink the size and scope of the federal government. An operative for the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) visited the IRS last week. The DOGE panel, led by Elon Musk, was assembled by President Donald Trump and is tasked with eliminating waste in federal spending.
“I think that the Internal Revenue Service will be looked at like everybody else, just about everybody is going to be looked at. They’re doing a hell of a job, it’s an amazing job they’re doing,” Trump said of DOGE.
Trump said he doesn’t believe the IRS will be eliminated entirely.
The news comes 57 days ahead of the federal tax filing deadline. The IRS is expected to process more than 140 million tax returns this year. The cuts could impact access to free and low-cost filing assistance.
IRS employees were previously told that they could not accept a deferred resignation package during tax season. The Trump administration offered full pay and benefits through Sept. 30 for any federal workers who resigned from their positions, aside from postal workers and military personnel. More than 75,000 people took the deferred resignation offer.
DC News Now is tracking unemployment claim data in the District of Columbia.
In January, there were 3,816 new unemployment claims. There were 475 new claims during the first week of February. As of Feb. 7, DC’s Department of Employment Services paid $32,423,628 in benefits so far in Fiscal Year 2025. The Unemployment Trust Fund balance was $385,731,889.02.
