...
By Giulia Carbonaro
Senior Reporter
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
At least one member of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) visited the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) offices in Washington on Thursday as Elon Musk's cost-cutting group prepares to audit the agency.
It was the first time a Musk aide had entered the building, raising fears of cuts to the tax collecting agency, which has long been a target of Republicans.
Newsweek reached out to the IRS via email for comment.
Read More on Politics
Why It Matters
The Trump administration and Musk's DOGE, which the president has tapped to shrink the size of the federal government, have been cutting thousands of federal jobs in the past few weeks. DOGE, which recently faced widespread condemnation for its unfettered access to sensitive documents, is now ready to review the IRS operations after President Donald Trump authorized its audit on Thursday.
"The Internal Revenue Service will be looked at like everybody else," Trump said Thursday from the White House.
While Trump and Musk have justified the cuts as necessary to fight inefficiency, alleged fraud and corruption in federal agencies, many fear the impact these moves could have on the functioning of the government. Cuts to the IRS workforce could potentially affect the agency's capacity to collect taxes for the federal government and delay refunds to taxpayers.
...
What To Know
On Thursday, DOGE member Gavin Kliger entered the IRS offices in Washington, D.C., and made several requests, including a description of the work that each of the agency's business units does and what risks they face, CNN reported.
An IRS employee told The Wall Street Journal that Kliger seemed interested in the agency's headcount and asked for meetings with senior IRS officials. The agency, in the midst of the busiest time of tax filing season, has about 100,000 workers.
No operational changes or layoffs concerning the IRS have been announced yet. There was also no indication that Kliger accessed the IRS computer systems or taxpayers' information.
But an email received by IRS employees during his visit and shared with CNN said: "Anyone getting an inbound on a group of high-profile visitors to the IRS should have them send their query to the inbox. We've elevated this inquiry to Treasury. We're awaiting further instruction."
Earlier this month, Musk launched a poll on his social media platform X asking users if they favored DOGE auditing the IRS. A staggering majority (91.2 percent) of those who responded to his informal poll voted to audit the agency, while 8.2 percent voted against it.
The IRS has already been hit hard by Trump's executive order on January 20, which froze hiring for all federal agencies except military personnel of the armed forces or positions related to immigration enforcement, national security, or public safety.
While the order is set to expire after 90 days for all executive departments and agencies, it will remain in effect for the IRS "until the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Director of OMB and the Administrator of USDS, determines that it is in the national interest to lift the freeze."
What People Are Saying
Oregon Senator Ron Wyden, a Democrat, Thursday on X, formerly Twitter: "My office is hearing that DOGE is now at the IRS. That means Musk's henchmen are in a position to dig through a trove of data about every taxpayer in America. And if your refund is delayed, they could very well be the reason."
Christian Whiton, a former Trump senior adviser, told Sky News Australia: "It's a great move; it's poetic justice for the IRS to be facing scrutiny since they scrutinized the rest of us."
Republican Jason Smith, chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, told IRS acting commissioner Douglas O'Donnell in a letter on Thursday: "Business as usual at the IRS is unacceptable...President Trump has shown in his first 3 weeks that he meant what he said during the Presidential campaign. Our government has not been working effectively for the American people, and it needs to change.
"We will be watching closely to make certain that the IRS timely complies with all laws, Executive Orders, direction from the Secretary of the Treasury, and requests from the House Committee on Ways and Means and the Senate Committee on Finance."
What Happens Next
On Thursday, reporters asked Trump if he expected DOGE to close the IRS.
"No, I don't expect it," he said. "But I think the Internal Revenue Service will be looked at like everybody else. Just about everybody is going to be looked at. They're doing a hell of a job," he added, calling DOGE employees "the force of super-geniuses."
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines