❓WHAT HAPPENED: The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced it will furlough nearly half of its workforce as the government shutdown continues into its second week.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: The IRS, President Donald J. Trump, Senate Democrats, and the National Treasury Employees Union.
📍WHEN & WHERE: Announced on Wednesday, as the shutdown entered its second week, affecting IRS operations nationwide.
💬KEY QUOTE: “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.” – Doreen Greenwald, National Treasury Employees Union President.
🎯IMPACT: Taxpayers face delays, increased wait times, and backlogs while IRS operations are curtailed.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has announced that nearly half of its workforce will be furloughed as the government shutdown continues into its second week. According to an updated contingency plan posted on the agency’s website, only 39,870 employees, or 53.6 percent of its workforce, will remain on the job. Most IRS operations are now closed.
The shutdown stems from Senate Democrats blocking six attempts to pass a short-term federal funding measure. The agency’s initial contingency plan allowed operations to continue for the first five business days using funds from previous appropriations. However, the ongoing shutdown has forced the IRS to scale back its workforce significantly.
Doreen Greenwald, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, warned that taxpayers should expect delays. “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 stated. Greenwald also emphasized that the growing backlog of work will frustrate taxpayers further as the shutdown persists.
The notice to IRS workers confirmed that furloughed employees and those remaining on the job will receive back pay once the shutdown ends. However, the Trump administration recently cautioned that there is no guarantee of back pay for federal workers during a shutdown unless Congress explicitly appropriates money for the back pay. Last week, the administration estimated that approximately 750,000 federal employees across various agencies would be furloughed, with some potentially losing their jobs.
The IRS, which employed roughly 100,000 workers at the end of 2024, has seen its workforce reduced to around 75,000 as a result of mass layoffs earlier this year.
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