House Democrats led by Rep. Brad Schneider (Ill.) pressed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on mass layoffs at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in a Wednesday letter requesting the Trump administration’s plan for slated reductions and their potential impact on taxpayer services.
“The Administration has already fired 7,400 probationary employees — or seven percent of all IRS employees, mostly from enforcement staff — and has implemented a hiring freeze,” Schneider and 22 additional lawmakers wrote.
“Additionally, 4,700 employees at IRS have accepted the deferred resignation offer. Reporting has shown that as IRS agents leave the agency, the IRS is closing audits before they are complete, and some were even closed without seeking money owed," they added, citing a Wall Street Journal article.
The rollbacks come as the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) gained access to sensitive taxpayer data while recommending “non-essential” contracts for termination. Senate Democrats called attention to the issue, but their colleagues in the House said the intent to share citizens' personal data is now widespread.
In their Wednesday letter, Democrats wrote, “There have been reports that the IRS is nearing a deal to share data with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for the purposes of immigration enforcement and that DHS has asked IRS investigators to help with immigration enforcement.”
“Not only is this a change of policy and a violation of privacy, this discourages tax compliance and will further cut revenues,” they added.
Democratic Reps. Judy Chu (Calif.), April Delaney (Md.), Tom Suozzi (N.Y.), Terri Sewell (Ala.), Gwen Moore (Wis.) and Danny Davis (Ill.) are some of the lawmakers who signed the letter.
The legislators are now asking the Treasury Department to present information on their target number for workforce cuts, a list of IRS departments that will lose staff, expected revenue loss from firings and how remaining staff will be “adequately equipped” to provide services to taxpayers.
