IRS to furlough nearly half of staff
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The Internal Revenue Service will furlough nearly half its staff this week as the government shutdown drags on with no end in sight.
The IRS is already operating at a reduced workforce, which fell from about 100,000 employees at the end of 2024 to roughly 75,000 when the shutdown started, the Associated Press reported. Its initial Lapsed Appropriations Contingency Plan only provided for the first five business days, after which it turned to funds from the Inflation Reduction Act. With that running out, the agency will furlough 46.4% of employees.
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An estimated 39,870 employees, 53.6% of the workforce, will remain working.
A notice to IRS employees, viewed by the outlet, said furloughed workers will receive back pay when the shutdown ends, something President Donald Trump previously suggested might not be the case.
The percentage of furloughed workers for each agency reflects Trump’s priorities. The Environmental Protection Agency, for example, planned to furlough 89% of its workers during the shutdown, along with 87% of the Education Department, according to data compiled by the New York Times.
Meanwhile, only 5% of the Department of Homeland Security, 3% of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and 2% of the Treasury Department were planned to be furloughed.
The furloughs appear to be a reversal of a Biden-era law funding the agency separately through 2031.
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Doreen Greenwald, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, said in a statement to the AP that the furloughs at the IRS would lead to inconveniences for everyone.
“Taxpayers around the country will now have a much harder time getting the assistance they need, just as they get ready to file their extension returns due next week,” she said. “Every day these employees are locked out of work is another day of frustration for taxpayers and a growing backlog of work that sits and waits for the shutdown to end.”