DOGE Arrives at the IRS

A top DOGE aide turned up at the Internal Revenue Service on Thursday, showing no department is safe from the Trump administration's efforts to make severe cuts. DOGE's Gavin Kliger met with senior executives at IRS headquarters in Washington to scrutinize the agency "even as the ongoing tax season squeezes its resources," per Reuters. He wanted to know what each business unit does, what risks it faces, and what work would be completed in the next 90 days, a source tells CNN. He also asked about the agency's head count of around 100,000, per the Wall Street Journal. In an email, senior executives were instructed to identify all "non-essential" consulting contracts—one that "merely generates a report, research, coaching, or an artifact"—for termination, per Reuters.

While praising DOGE's "amazing" work at other government agencies, President Trump said Thursday that the IRS was the latest target, but that it was not at risk of being shut down. "No, but I think the Internal Revenue Service will be looked at like everybody else," he told reporters, per CNN. There was no indication any IRS systems were accessed—"federal law imposes strict limits on who can obtain or view taxpayer information," with "criminal penalties for improper inspection," per the Journal—but staffers and Democrats were rattled nonetheless. "Musk's henchmen are in a position to dig through a trove of data about every taxpayer in America," Sen. Ron Wyden wrote on X, per the Hill. "And if your refund is delayed, they could very well be the reason." (More DOGE stories.)