Trump administration deepened its broad reorganization of the federal government on Tuesday, going after thousands of workers at major agencies, such as the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), NASA, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).
The IRS has singled out 7,500 workers for termination, with further layoffs on the horizon, according to sources familiar with the situation. The reductions come at a time when tax season is in full force, prompting fears about enforcement and compliance capacity.
Tech mogul Elon Musk, who heads the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has led the record number of mass terminations since President Donald Trump came back to office last month. The administration had not released official statistics, but reports showed extensive job cuts across several agencies.
The FDIC, which is responsible for regulating banks, already laid off an unspecified number of new employees, adding to staff shortages. About 1,000 NASA workers, including rocket scientists, lost their jobs on Tuesday, and more cuts were anticipated. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) workers and their parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), also expect substantial personnel cuts.
The Trump administration has been said to intend to fire hundreds of top DHS officials this week, who are seen as not being favorable to the president’s policies. The reductions have raised concerns of disruption in regulatory enforcement, disaster relief, and tax collection.
DOGE asserts its cost-saving measures have saved $55 billion, a small fraction of the federal government’s $6.7 trillion annual budget. The effort has targeted mainly probationary employees who were newly hired in the last year, who do not have full employment protections.
Republicans have long criticized the IRS expansion authorized by President Joe Biden, insisting that downsizing its staff will stem excessive government spending. Yet independent analysts predict the job losses will impede tax collection and worsen the US budget deficit.
