As the IRS and veteran issues emerge as the latest targets for the Trump administration’s unprecedented purge through billionaire Elon Musk’s “Government Efficiency” (DOGE), a massive layoff of two more important federal U.S. government agencies is being planned, a new report suggests.
The IRS has drafted a plan to cut the 90,000 strong workforce by up to half, through a mix of layoffs, attrition and acquisitions, according to the Associated Press. Federal tax collectors have offices nationwide, with women making up 65% of the workforce and people of color making up 56%.
A decline in the power of tens of thousands of employees would make the IRS “dysfunctional,” former IRS commissioner John Coskin told the Associated Press.
Approximately 7,000 probation employees with services of less than 12 months have already been fired in February. In addition to the extraordinary planned cuts, the Trump administration reportedly intends to lend IRS workers to the Department of Homeland Security to help crack down on immigration.
Meanwhile, the Veterans (VA) division plans to have as many as 83,000 workers by the end of 2025, according to an internal memo obtained by the government enforcers, a news outlet covering government agencies.
A leaked memo sent to senior staff on Tuesday said the VA will work with Mask Doge to reduce its workforce to 2019 levels. The cuts will be wiped out and will not spare parts of the department, VA Chief of Staff Christopher Silek wrote in a memo.
More than one in four VA employees are veterans.
VA staffing has risen significantly under the Biden administration in response to the 2022 PACT Act. This expanded healthcare and benefits to millions of veterans exposed to toxins from burning pits, agent oranges and other toxic substances. The law passed after a long-standing campaign by veterans and their families who struggled to receive care and support for injuries and illnesses related to military service.
The planned cuts were “a complete betrayal of veterans,” Mark Takano, the top Democrat on the House Veterans Affairs Committee, told government officials.
The latest layoffs are part of the Trump/Musk administration’s plan for federal agencies providing important, sometimes life-saving services to millions of people in the US and abroad. USAID is largely closed, staff and their families are stuck around the world, with millions of people not having food, medicines or clean water. Mass shootings and shopping are unprecedented, legally questionable, and in some cases challenged in court.
Federal workers, excluding military and postal workers, consist of approximately 2.4 million people, of which only 20% are in neighboring countries in Washington, D.C. and Maryland and Virginia.
