Suozzi Announces IRS Layoff About-Face
August 25, 2025
Suozzi predicted this layoff reversal in February; has since advocated for
this policy change
Washington, D.C.— Congressman Tom Suozzi, a Member of the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight, which oversees the IRS (Internal Revenue Service), announced today that the agency is reversing their decision to let go of tens of thousands of employees. In an abrupt policy change, the Trump Administration plans to cancel its layoff policy and hire back some of its ex-employees.
Suozzi and his Democratic colleagues had previously pushed for more hiring, arguing that IRS employees not only bring in much more money that they cost by requiring wealthy individuals and businesses to pay their fair share of taxes owed, but that they also provide better customer service, guiding Americans through tax season and year-long compliance.
At several Ways and Means hearings and in a handful of statements earlier this year, Suozzi warned against continued chaotic mass layoffs of crucial employees. He pointed out that, as had been done at several agencies already, the federal government would inevitably scramble to bring workers back. He predicted the same fate for the IRS and now, fortunately, those predictions have come true.
Suozzi even pointed out this pattern in his questioning of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and, in February, authored an Op-Ed about the chaotic approach DOGE was taking to rid the government of waste and fraud, specifically at the IRS. In it, he wrote:
“DOGE dysfunction reveals itself at the IRS, where thousands of probationary workers are set to be laid off in the middle of tax season — despite earlier instructions that tax workers couldn’t accept buyouts until after the filing deadline. The abrupt firing of dozens of employees from the National Nuclear Security Administration, under the guise of efficiency, put national security at risk. The agency, responsible for overseeing the U.S. nuclear stockpile and counterterrorism efforts, was left scrambling. In a stunning reversal, the administration attempted to rehire many employees it had dismissed, only to face difficulties due to hastily revoked access to federal systems.
DOGE’s bull-in-a-china-shop execution — clumsy and careless — is causing more damage than actual reform. Lawsuits invoking Civil Service law and union contracts could end up costing the federal government more than the attempted cuts.”
Congressman Suozzi also hosted an in-person budget briefing in March of 2025. One of the featured speakers was a Long Island woman who was laid off from the IRS under the DOGE plan. Not only was she processing backlog cases—collecting money for the federal government—all the way back to 2022, but she was also 7 months pregnant, dependent on the health insurance she received from her employer.
Congressman Suozzi is applauding the news that the IRS is planning to halt its layoff program and hire back fired employees. He hopes the Administration can learn from this policy reversal, and he is calling for a more thoughtful approach going forward.
“Mass IRS layoffs were a bad idea from the beginning,” said Congressman Suozzi. “We knew it would create chaos. That is why I’ve been cautioning a methodical, thoughtful approach. I agree that we need to cut out waste and fraud, but as I’ve said since we began the budget process, we need to use a scalpel, not a chainsaw. We need to pass a bipartisan budget and do it the right way.”