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102,000 → 74,000 Employees
DOGE cut the IRS from 102,000 to approximately 74,000 employees, a 27% reduction. The IRS collects 96% of all federal revenue. Without it, the government cannot fund itself.
27% of IRS staff gone. Refund processing times doubled. Audits of high-income filers cut in half. The agency collects $4.7 trillion annually. It now has fewer people to do it.
Refund processing times have doubled. Phone wait times exceed an hour at peak periods. Audits of high-income filers have been cut by approximately half, meaning wealthy tax evaders face less scrutiny while working families wait longer for their refunds.
The Math Does Not Work
The IRS brings in approximately $4.7 trillion annually. Every $1 invested in IRS enforcement returns $5-12 in recovered revenue. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the Inflation Reduction Act’s $80 billion IRS funding increase would generate $200 billion in additional revenue over a decade.
DOGE cut the workforce that generates that return. The “savings” from firing 28,000 IRS employees are a fraction of the revenue those employees would have collected. The deficit grows when you fire the people who collect taxes.
The administration simultaneously engineered a $10 billion IRS settlement and redirected $1.8 billion into a fund for January 6 defendants.
What You Can Do
- Write your representative about protecting federal workers →
- Read the DOGE one-year analysis for the full picture.
- Read the Federal Workers hub.