Irs Furloughs Nearly Half of Its Workforce Due to Government Shutdown

Posted3 months agoActive3 months ago

donsupreme

41 points

18 comments

cnbc.comOtherstory

heatednegative

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Government ShutdownIrsFiscal Policy

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Government Shutdown

Irs

Fiscal Policy

The IRS has furloughed nearly half of its workforce due to the ongoing government shutdown, sparking concerns about tax processing and government efficiency, with commenters debating the shutdown's causes and consequences.

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Oct 8, 2025 at 4:53 PM EDT
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Discussion (18 comments)

Showing 18 comments

beefnugs

3 months ago

2 replies

Doesn't make any sense, seems like if a huge portion of the population colluded to not pay their taxes at once then the whole military overspend would collapse? Or do they already have a backup plan to hand out trump-crypto to military and ICE?

eek2121

3 months ago

2 replies

My (admittedly naive) understanding is that when the U.S. government shuts down, ALL funding stops. If a department still has dollars in the the bank, they can operate until those dollars run out.

Complicating the matter further, employees may choose to work without pay, because backpay is legally required by law (certain individuals are trying to undo this, however, I lack the patience or desire to get into this on HN). That means that if employees have the means to hold out, they will ultimately be compensated.

Perhaps someone more informed can provide more detail.

trenchpilgrim

3 months ago

2 replies

This isn't correct. All nonessential work stops immediately regardless of funding and all essential work continues. Individual workers don't choose whether they work or not, their departments do. Historically, everyone gets their backpay when the shutdown ends, essential or not, based on their salary level.

Jtsummers

3 months ago

And after the 2018-2019 shutdown, a law was passed guaranteeing backpay. But the WH has gone back and forth on whether that very plainly written law would apply to this lapse in appropriations even though the law very clearly does apply to it. I believe today they are back to paying furloughed employees.

wtallis

3 months ago

The source of funding matters. There are parts of the Federal government that are not entirely funded by annual appropriations from Congress. Funding from permanent appropriations or fee collection has not stopped, and agencies are allowed to operate to the extent that those other, non-lapsed funding sources can support. For example, a National Park campground that can support a basic level of services with the fees it collects doesn't have to shut down.

Jtsummers

3 months ago

1 reply

> Complicating the matter further, employees may choose to work without pay

This is wrong. If they're furloughed, they aren't working. Yes, by law (passed in 2019) they will get back pay, but they do not have the option to work without pay. If they're not furloughed, they may not be getting paid but it's not by choice that they continue working, it's because they weren't furloughed.

jhbadger

3 months ago

Depends on what "work" is. In theory furloughed workers aren't working, and can't go in to their workplace, but many different sorts of people are government employees. Yes, an IRS worker isn't processing returns, but it's not like government scientists stop thinking about their research even if they aren't allowed in their labs.

bombcar

3 months ago

As with ALL things; true democracy is the actions of the people; if everyone treated tax laws like they do speed limits; well, we have countries where that’s so.

The problem is getting everyone to work in such a concerted manner.

naveen99

3 months ago

3 replies

With mandatory back pay, isn’t it just a vacation for the furloughed employees ?

dragonwriter

3 months ago

1 reply

Employees working incurs other costs beyond the employees’ compensation, but, yes, assuming the back pay requirement is honored [0], that’s essentially what it is.

[0] The White House this week argued that the law that clearly and unambiguously requires this does not in fact do so, and OMB removed references to the law and its requirements from their shutdown guidance to agencies, so I would not count on the Administration honoring it, at least initially.

georgemcbay

3 months ago

> The White House this week argued that the law that clearly and unambiguously requires this does not in fact do so

Interesting side note to this (to point out the hypocrisy and attempts at memory-holing): the law in question is the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019 which passed with extremely broad bipartisan support and was signed into law by Trump during his first term.

Jtsummers

3 months ago

1 reply

My furloughed gov't friends joke about it that way, but as pointed out by trenchpilgrim, they're not getting paid during this. Their paychecks this week will be for only 7 days of work, 30% short of a normal paycheck, and if the shutdown persists two more weeks, then they will not receive their next paycheck (they will eventually receive the pay, but late).

Braxton1980

3 months ago

2 replies

Trump said some workers won't receive back pay and don't deserve to be taken care of

Jtsummers

3 months ago

2 replies

Yes, he's said that, then they backtracked, not sure where they stand now. The law is pretty clear though that back pay is owed to the furloughed workers.

EDIT:

https://www.govexec.com/workforce/2025/10/tuesday-trump-admi...

That article covers the backtracking. Yesterday no back pay, today they tell the employees they will get back pay.

Braxton1980

3 months ago

I don't see how this is clear backtracking. Trump made the comment but only one agency (that I'm aware of) mentioned back pay in the information all federal workers received.

The article also states "...the Office of Management and Budget has deleted from its guidance any reference to the 2019 law [requiring back pay after shutdowns] back pay for furloughed federal workers"

OMB also issued a press release stating the law only applies to the one shutdown the law was created after.

1. Trump hasn't backtracked himself.

2. OMB has stated an argument allowing them to challenge the 2019 law.

4. The IRS is just one agency and Trump's comment was clear that only those he believed deserve back pay will get it. There's no contradiction in what the IRS said.

Also, A long drawn out executive power court battle will take months to years. People won't be paid unless there is some emergency relief from the courts.

Braxton1980

3 months ago

The IRS backtracked and are now saying it's up to the OMB

ozgrakkurt

3 months ago

It is incredible how unhinged “businessman” can be

trenchpilgrim

3 months ago

When I go on vacation, I still get paid that pay period, so I don't have to worry about paying the rent/mortgage and utilities in the meantime...

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ID: 45520528Type: storyLast synced: 11/20/2025, 1:39:00 PM

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