Trump administration to cut thousands of jobs at Pentagon and IRS

The Trump administration is cutting more than 11,000 jobs at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Pentagon, as part of its sweeping efforts to shrink the size of the federal workforce.

Around 6,000 layoffs at the IRS began on Thursday, coming in the middle of tax season as millions of Americans file their returns.

The defence department plans to axe more than 5,000 jobs next week as part of a goal to reduce its nearly million-strong civilian workforce by 5 to 8%, the Pentagon said on Friday. It will also put a hiring freeze in place.

The Trump administration has appointed Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) to implement the layoffs as part of a cost-cutting drive.

The probationary workers who are expected to lose their jobs at the IRS "were not deemed as critical to filing season", according to an email seen by CBS News, the BBC's US partner.

Most Americans have a deadline of 15 April to file their taxes, though the government allows extensions under some circumstances.

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Probationary employees are generally those on the job for less than a year. A person who has been a long-serving employee but moved to a new position is also often considered in a probationary position.

The BBC has contacted the IRS and treasury department for comment.

Reports suggest the terminations will target mostly new and newly promoted employees, with half of the cuts hitting an office known as the Small Business/Self-Employed (SBSE) Division.

The email from SBSE commissioner Lia Colbert says that "while details are still developing, we understand that over 3,500 SB/SE probationary hires will be terminated by the end of this week".

About 83,000 people worked for the IRS as of the 2023 fiscal year.

Many of the targeted roles appear to deal with compliance matters, or ensuring Americans pay what the government says they owe.

Linda Bilmes, a professor at the Harvard Kennedy School, told the BBC: "What people like even less than paying taxes is not being able to reach someone to help them pay their taxes accurately."

The Biden administration had secured $80bn (£63bn) in funding for new resources and staff at the IRS, to help the government bring in more revenue.

Republicans, who generally advocate for lower taxes, opposed the effort and have long targeted the IRS for funding cuts.

In an interview on Fox News, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Trump's "goal is to abolish the Internal Revenue Service and let all the outsiders pay".

The president has proposed an "External Revenue Service" to generate funds from tariffs, or taxes on foreign imports, instead.

The firings at the Pentagon were expected to initially affect about 5,400 probationary workers beginning next week before freezing hiring, a defence department statement said.

But these job losses might not be the last.

"We anticipate reducing the Department's civilian workforce by 5-8% to produce efficiencies and refocus the Department on the President's priorities and restoring readiness in the force," the statement added.

The defence department is the largest government agency, with a civilian workforce of about 950,000 employees, according to Reuters.

Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has supported these cuts, posting on X last week that the Pentagon needs "to cut the fat (HQ) and grow the muscle (warfighters)".

Polling indicates some discomfort among Americans for Trump's changes to the federal workforce.

A Washington Post/Ipsos poll suggests that 54% of Americans disapproved of the way Trump is managing the federal government, compared to 44% who approved.