A group of senate Democrats, led by Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-OR) are warning the Trump administration officials that staffing reductions at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) could have negative affects this tax season.
Wyden said the hiring freeze and potential layoffs would likely delay tax refunds, harm taxpayer service, and undermine law enforcement efforts. Wyden, along with Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and seven Democratic senators on the committee, urged the Administration to end the IRS hiring freeze immediately.
“Americans need the IRS to be fully staffed with employees who can answer their questions, process their returns, send them refunds, and keep IRS systems online and functional,” the senators wrote. “It is nearly inevitable that this hiring freeze, compounded by layoffs and further reductions in staff mandated as a result of Elon Musk’s unprecedented power grab, will delay refunds and degrade taxpayer service. Millions of Americans plan their budgets around timely refunds every filing season. These reckless decisions on the part of Elon Musk and the Trump administration will likely cause serious financial hardship for people across the country.”
They also called on the administration to protect the IRS’s Criminal Investigation division, which helps combat drug and human trafficking, terrorism, and sanctions evasion.
“IRS Criminal Investigation is at the forefront of federal law enforcement efforts to investigate fentanyl trafficking by cartels, human trafficking, terrorism financing, and sanctions evasion,” they wrote. “For example, CI was the lead investigative agency in the largest international fentanyl/opioid seizure in U.S. history. This operation took down a massive drug trafficking operation and seized 864 kg of drugs, including an astounding 64kg of fentanyl and fentanyl-laced opioids, enough to kill thousands of people. CI was also responsible for the dismantling of several large fentanyl trafficking networks operated by the Sinaloa cartel, including a collaboration with Chinese money laundering organizations. An indefinite hiring freeze at CI would endanger both public safety and national security by directly hampering multi-agency efforts to pursue and dismantle these highly dangerous criminal networks.”
Along with Wyden and Schumer, the letter was signed by Sens. Mark Warner (D-VA), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Tina Smith (D-MN), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), and Peter Welch (D-VT).