News/Commentary

‘Schumer shutdown’ forces cuts to half the IRS ahead of key deadline

October 9, 2025 | | Print Article

As if things aren’t hectic enough at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) with the October 15 filing deadline for people who received extensions rapidly approaching, it will now be severely shorthanded thanks to the Democrats.

With the “Schumer shutdown” now entering week two, the agency is furloughing around 34,000 workers, which is nearly half of its workforce, with the IRS employing 74,299 people as of July 24, 2025, according to Fox News.

“Due to the lapse in appropriations, most IRS operations are closed. An IRS-wide furlough began on October 8, 2025, for everyone except already-identified excepted and exempt employees,” the agency said in an announcement posted to the IRS website on Wednesday.

The announcement states that employees “who are not exempt or excepted are furloughed and placed in a non-pay and non-duty status until further notice; however, all employees should plan to report to work for their next tour of duty,” adding that the workers “will be given up to four hours to close out work requirements and receive formal furlough notification.”

“Once furloughed employees conduct an orderly shutdown,” the notice reads.

Around 40,000 employees will continue working, although it’s not clear which positions will be staffed. The agency is “rolling out a contingency plan to keep key tax enforcement, data security, and filing-season operations running despite the lapse in congressional funding,” Fox News reported.

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What will be impacted are taxpayer services departments, including “call centers and most administrative functions not tied to life or property protection,” a Democrat-induced headache for extension filers who may have last-minute questions about their taxes.

“Expect increased wait times, backlogs, and delays implementing tax law changes as the shutdown continues,” National Treasury Employees Union President Doreen Greenwald said in a statement.”

“Taxpayers around the country will now have a much harder time getting the assistance they need, just as they get ready to file their extension returns due next week. Every day these employees are locked out of work is another day of frustration for taxpayers and a growing backlog of work that sits and waits for the shutdown to end,” she added.

“For frontline employees, the complete lack of planning left them in the dark about their work status until their supervisor informed them today,” Greenwald said. “This is not the way our government should treat its dedicated, nonpartisan public servants. We urge the administration and Congress to reach an agreement that reopens government and restores the services that Americans need and deserve.”

Even as the IRS was making steep cuts, Wednesday was another day when Senate Democrats again refused to fund the federal government out of pure spite for President Donald J. Trump and ensuring that illegal aliens are allowed access to free healthcare while gaslighting Americans that their hostage-taking is a principled protest to preserve expiring Obamacare subsidies, a crock of crap.

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According to an Associated Press report, the notice told furloughed IRS workers that they will receive back pay once the “Schumer shutdown” is over.

“We recognize the difficult financial implications of any furlough, no matter how limited its length. We will make every effort to keep you informed as additional information regarding the Agency funding level becomes available,” the agency said in a furlough letter sent to workers.

Chris Donaldson
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