IRS layoffs begin for Denver employees
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Layoffs began Thursday for dozens of Denver-based Internal Revenue Service employees just as tax season gears up, Axios Denver has learned.
The big picture: The IRS on Thursday reportedly began terminating roughly 6,000 relatively new workers nationwide as part of President Trump's push to downsize the federal workforce.
- Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Wednesday evening that Trump's goal is to "abolish" the IRS, Axios' Rebecca Falconer reports.
State of play: Between 120 and 150 Denver IRS employees are on the chopping block, National Treasury Employees Union Chapter 32 president Patricia Allen told Axios Denver on Thursday morning.
- Most are probationary employees, she said, and are being cut from multiple divisions, including collections and tax compliance.
- Some employees were laid off early Thursday morning, Allen said, and as of 10:30am many were waiting for an email that's expected to tell them they have 30 minutes to vacate the premises.
Behind the scenes: Terminated employees in the lobby of Denver's IRS building were crying and hugging Thursday morning, telling each other to "shake it off" and how much they would "miss" working together.
What they're saying: "I've been with the IRS for 20 years, and I've never seen this kind of layoff. Never," Allen said.
Zoom in: Arlene R., who requested partial anonymity for fear of retribution, is a Denver employee who has worked for the past five months in the IRS' special compliance department overseeing collections.
- She was bracing for the termination letter to hit her inbox at any point Thursday morning.
- "So many of us don't even know how we're going to make our rent, how we're going to put food on the table," she told Axios Denver. "This is just absolutely incredible that one man has this power to do this."
- "Where are our Senators, our Congress people?" she asked, holding back tears. "What are they doing to help us?"
The other side: The White House was not immediately available to comment on the layoffs or their impact on tax season, Axios' Emily Peck reports.
Zoom out: The IRS layoffs are the latest federal workforce cuts impacting Colorado.
- Earlier this week, at least 90 U.S. Forest Service employees in the state were let go — a move state leaders warned will weaken wildfire prevention, emergency responses and park maintenance.