IRS to pause modernization efforts under Trump
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is pausing the operational overhaul it started during the Biden administration and is set to make changes to its workforce, senior Treasury Department officials said on a Friday call with reporters.
A Treasury Department official said that the U.S. tax collection agency has an opportunity to make a strategic pause on its modernization effort.
The official took an indirect swipe at the initial $80 billion in additional funding given to the IRS in Democrats’ 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, saying that a large investment often yields a small outcome.
The announcement of a pause follows Thursday reports in multiple media outlets saying the IRS would shed as much as 20 percent of its workforce amid inquiries at the agency by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
The Washington Post reported Thursday that DOGE officials told the acting IRS chief to get rid of more than 18,000 jobs, representing about 20 percent of the agency’s workforce.
Treasury Department officials said Friday they didn’t have a specific number in mind for the amount of IRS jobs they want to cut but that the agency had an opportunity to realign its workforce.
The IRS announced it was getting rid of nearly 7,000 trial employees earlier this year.
Treasury Department officials also said the Direct File program launched during the Biden administration, which is an online portal allowing taxpayers to file their taxes directly with the IRS, was being reviewed. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said the program would be available for the 2025 tax season.
Multiple outlets also reported Thursday that acting IRS Commissioner William Paul, a career agency employee, would be replaced by Andrew De Mello, who was nominated as the inspector general for the Education Department during Trump’s first term.
Treasury officials declined to comment on these reports on the Friday call with reporters.
Republicans have been gunning for the funds enabling the IRS overhaul since it was first announced in 2022. When Republicans took control of the House in 2023, the first piece of legislation they passed was a rescission of the IRS funds.
During funding fights over the course of 2023 and 2024, Republicans were able to claw back 20 percent over the initial $80 billion funding boost for the IRS and managed to freeze most of the remaining funds set aside for increased audits and additional tax enforcement, much to the annoyance of the Biden White House during its final weeks in office.
As of September last year, the IRS spent $9 billion, or 16 percent, of the remaining$60 billion in Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) funding that was available to the agency, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) said in a report released Friday.
The largest expenditure has been $3.7 billion for employee compensation, the TIGTA report concluded.
Treasury Department officials said Friday they also were reviewing enforcement practices at the IRS.
Each year, the IRS fails to collect around $700 billion in taxes owed to the government, an amount that’s known as the tax gap. Former IRS commissioner Charles Rettig told Congress in 2022 that the gap could be as large as $1 trillion, or nearly 4 percent of U.S. gross domestic product in the last year that it was measured.
-
USDA pauses funding to University of Maine after Trump clash with governor
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced Tuesday it is temporarily pausing funding to the University of Maine System, a move that comes after President Trump and the state’s governor got ...The Hill - 3d -
Judge denies Pulitzer board’s request to pause Trump lawsuit during presidency
A Florida judge Monday denied the Pulitzer Prize Board’s request to pause President Trump’s defamation lawsuit while he is in the White House, an argument Trump’s lawyers themselves have made in ...The Hill - 3d -
US pauses water-sharing negotiations with Canada over Columbia River
Break in talks comes as Trump escalates trade war with Canada and threatens its sovereignty. The United States has paused negotiations with Canada on a key water-sharing treaty as Donald Trump ...The Guardian - 2d -
Panama Will Release Migrants From Detention Camp, Challenging Trump’s Deportation Efforts
More than 100 people deported by the United States have been held in a remote camp for weeks. Their release could pose a challenge to President Trump’s deportation efforts.The New York Times - 6d -
Greenland’s likely new prime minister rejects Trump takeover efforts
‘We don’t want to be Americans. We don’t want to be Danes. We want to be Greenlanders,’ says Jens-Frederik Nielsen. Greenland ’s probable new prime minister has rejected Donald Trump ’s effort to ...The Guardian - 1d -
Trump administration halts funding for two cybersecurity efforts
The Trump administration has cut millions of dollars in federal funding from two cybersecurity initiatives, including one dedicated to helping state and local election officialsABC News - 3d -
Federal Grant Program Opens Door to Elon Musk’s Starlink
Under new rules from President Trump’s Commerce Department, a $42 billion high-speed internet effort will no longer favor fiber-optic cable.The New York Times - Mar. 6 -
Kleptocrats to benefit from Trump DoJ’s anti-corruption pause, experts warn
Former prosecutors criticize Pam Bondi’s decision to halt enforcement of bribery laws as short-sighted and dangerous. A radical makeover at the US department of justice has seen key drives to fight ...The Guardian - 4d -
Justices to Consider Trump Request to Lift Nationwide Pause on Birthright Citizenship Order
The justices requested responses by early April from the states and groups who had challenged the executive order.The New York Times - 3h
More from The Hill
-
Live updates: Senate taking final vote on averting shutdown; Trump lays out plan for DOJ
The Senate inched closer to funding the government before the deadline Friday. Needing 60 votes to keep the lights on and prevent a shutdown beginning Saturday morning, the House-passed continuing ...The Hill - 32m -
Tech stocks return to earth
Presented by Ericsson — Plus: Exclusive look at "Middle Tech" AI push {beacon} Technology Technology The Big Story Tech stocks return to earth as AI explosion fizzles The world’s biggest ...The Hill - 36m -
Watch live: NASA launches SpaceX mission to return Boeing Starliner crew from space station
NASA and SpaceX are set to launch the Crew-10 mission to retrieve astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore from the International Space Station on Thursday evening. Williams and Wilmore, part of ...The Hill - 42m -
ACLU releases video of Mahmoud Khalil's ICE arrest
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on Friday released the full video of Palestinian activist and Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil’s arrest last weekend as outrage grows over his ...The Hill - 45m -
Judge denies temporary relief in lawsuits challenging Guantánamo migrant detentions
A federal judge on Friday declined to grant temporary injunctive relief to plaintiffs in two lawsuits challenging the Trump administration’s efforts to detain migrants at Guantánamo Bay. U.S. ...The Hill - 55m
More in Politics
-
Live updates: Senate taking final vote on averting shutdown; Trump lays out plan for DOJ
The Senate inched closer to funding the government before the deadline Friday. Needing 60 votes to keep the lights on and prevent a shutdown beginning Saturday morning, the House-passed continuing ...The Hill - 32m -
Tech stocks return to earth
Presented by Ericsson — Plus: Exclusive look at "Middle Tech" AI push {beacon} Technology Technology The Big Story Tech stocks return to earth as AI explosion fizzles The world’s biggest ...The Hill - 36m -
Watch live: NASA launches SpaceX mission to return Boeing Starliner crew from space station
NASA and SpaceX are set to launch the Crew-10 mission to retrieve astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore from the International Space Station on Thursday evening. Williams and Wilmore, part of ...The Hill - 42m -
ACLU releases video of Mahmoud Khalil's ICE arrest
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on Friday released the full video of Palestinian activist and Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil’s arrest last weekend as outrage grows over his ...The Hill - 45m -
Judge denies temporary relief in lawsuits challenging Guantánamo migrant detentions
A federal judge on Friday declined to grant temporary injunctive relief to plaintiffs in two lawsuits challenging the Trump administration’s efforts to detain migrants at Guantánamo Bay. U.S. ...The Hill - 55m