About one-fifth of the IRS workforce has requested to take an offer through the second deferred resignation program, called “DRP 2.0,” to be put on paid administrative leave through the end of September, according to the New York Times and Bloomberg Tax, as the Trump administration continues its efforts to shrink the federal workforce.
Roughly 20,000 IRS employees requested to take DRP 2.0 before the deadline concluded on April 14, but according to several posters on Reddit, employees are still waiting for the contracts to be released so they can sign the resignation offer.
Under the terms of the Trump administration’s second deferred resignation offer, employees who take the deal will be put on paid administrative leave through Sept. 30 and then leave their federal jobs, the New York Times reported. Some employees who took the offer could still opt out of resigning.
IRS workers eligible for DRP 2.0 could start paid administrative leave as early as April 28, and “generally no later” than June 2, said an email sent to Treasury Department employees earlier this month.
- Related article: IRS Workers Faced a Resignation Deadline as Americans Rushed to File Their Taxes
- Related article: IRS Probationary Employees Told Not to Come Back to Work on April 14 After All
- Related article: IRS Workers Get Final Chance to Take Deferred Resignation Offer
“A lot of people just want the off ramp at this point. DRP has shown to be just that,” one person wrote yesterday on Reddit. “High skilled professionals will take a month and then get a job that starts between August and September. Even in a bad job market.”
As Bloomberg Tax noted, guidance from the Office of Management and Budget also advised that those who are 40 years old and older must be given 45 days to consider the resignation offer. A large amount of IRS workers who requested the buyout are in this age group and may use it as insurance in case they get fired as part of the reduction in force (RIF) plans for the IRS.
The IRS began implementing an RIF on April 4 that will result in staffing cuts across multiple offices and job categories, with the agency’s Office of Civil Rights and Compliance targeted first.
According to an email sent to employees by the IRS human capital officer, 75% of the office will be reduced by the RIF. About 5% of the office’s employees had already left via taking the Trump administration’s first deferred resignation offer earlier this year and through attrition.
It has been reported that the IRS plans to cut as many as 20,000 staffers—between 20% to 25% of the workforce—as part of the layoffs that will conclude by the end of this year.
The number of IRS employees stood at roughly 100,000 before President Donald Trump took office on Jan. 20, as the tax agency refilled its ranks the last couple of years through funding from the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.
Approximately 5,000 IRS workers took the administration’s first deferred resignation offer in January and have resigned, while roughly 6,700 probationary workers were laid off in February. Those probationary workers, who were reinstated and put on paid leave in March after two favorable court rulings, were set to return to work on April 14, but that plan was put on hold by the IRS.
Acting IRS Commissioner Melanie Krause and IRS Chief Information Officer Rajiv Uppal are said to be among those who are taking DRP 2.0.
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