Former IRS workers react to mass layoffs
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Thousands of IRS workers have been laid off across the country as part of the Trump administration’s plan to reduce the size of the federal government. We’re hearing from some of those workers locally who now find themselves suddenly unemployed.
CBS News reports that more than 6,000 IRS workers have been laid off across the country. Many of these workers are with the IRS Small Business/Self-Employed Division. The former IRS workers we heard from say they had a feeling that cuts were coming but were shocked to learn they’d be out of a job.
“I anticipated a hiring freeze. Honestly, I didn’t anticipate literally gutting the federal government,” said Richard Syracuse.
When we spoke to Syracuse, he was rocking his newborn daughter to sleep and thinking to himself, what will he do next? Richard said he was fired Thursday after working for the IRS for less than a year.
“We’re not just employees, we’re not just cogs — we’re not this, that, the other thing,” Syracuse said. “We’re people. People love us, we love other people too. And you’re not just getting rid of a number, you’re getting rid of me.”
Jeff Plummer said he was also shown the door.
“I was working up until yesterday,” Plummer said. “I was doing a very fine job of it. My boss said, this isn’t me firing you, this is somebody else. You’re a good employee, you don’t deserve this. And I take that to heart.”
The Trump administration has said it wants to reduce the size of the federal government to make it more efficient. Republican Congressman Nick Langworthy has been a staunch supporter of the president.
“My heart goes out to anyone that loses their job, but it’s a very thriving economy right now,” Langworthy said. “There’s a lot of jobs and not enough people that want them. So I do believe anyone that wants a job can get a job in America right now.”
This did not sit well with Syracuse and Plummer.
“Oh, it’s wholly insensitive,” Plummer said. “He’s just parroting the continued point of there are plenty of jobs out there, no one wants to work. Well, that’s not the truth at all.”
At CPAC this week, Elon Musk championed cuts to the federal government using a chainsaw as a prop. The former IRS workers we spoke to said they expect the firings will result in longer delays for taxpayers to pay their taxes and get tax help.
“What the President of the United States is doing and what unelected billionaire Elon Musk is doing is hurting people in our community that depend upon the services that they need each and every day,” said Democratic Congressman Tim Kennedy.
It’s still not clear whether the cuts will delay tax filings and refunds this tax season.
In a statement by NTEU, the union that represents IRS workers said:
“Indiscriminate firings of IRS employees around the country are a recipe for economic disaster. In the middle of a tax filing season, when taxpayers expect prompt customer service and smooth processing of their tax returns, the administration has chosen to decimate the whole operation by sending dedicated civil servants to the unemployment lines. These layoffs are arbitrary and unlawful, and NTEU will keep fighting until every wrongful termination is reversed.“
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Jeff Preval is an award-winning anchor and reporter who joined the News 4 team in December 2021. See more of his work here.
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