In a significant development, over 22,000 employees of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) have opted for the Trump administration's deferred resignation program.
This initiative, part of the administration's latest buyout offer, allows federal workers to receive full pay and benefits until September 30, even if they are not required to work during their final months.
According to The Post Millennial, the IRS, which initially had a workforce of approximately 100,000 when President Trump assumed office, has seen a reduction of 7,000 probationary employees earlier this year. An additional 5,000 employees have departed in the last three months.
Under the Biden administration, the IRS workforce was expanded by around 20,000 employees. Across the broader civilian federal workforce, which numbers about 2.3 million, approximately 200,000 workers have exited through buyouts, layoffs, and resignations.
The resignation of Acting IRS head Melanie Krause in April, the third such departure since January, underscores the agency's turbulent period. Krause's resignation was partly due to a data-sharing agreement with the Department of Homeland Security, which involved the IRS providing information on illegal immigrants to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to aid in tracking them within the country.
Concerns have been raised by fiscal watchdog groups about the potential impact of losing such a significant number of IRS employees simultaneously. They warn that this could disrupt the agency's ability to collect taxes and process returns efficiently.
Chye-Ching Huang, executive director of the nonpartisan Tax Law Center at New York University, voiced apprehensions, stating, "I worry that this Administrations destructive initiatives at IRS will cost the federal government hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue while putting taxpayer services and privacy at risk."
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