Overview

• Treasury’s inspector general said termination letters cited performance even though the IRS did not assess individual performance when selecting probationary employees for removal.
• TIGTA reported that 51% of the 7,315 probationary employees who received notices had no rating on record and the rest were rated fully successful or better.
• IRS and Treasury leaders restored probationary staff to full work status in May, yet a July Supreme Court ruling allowed broader reductions-in-force to proceed.
• Some IRS units, including information technology, received exemptions for filing season needs, but nearly 50 IT executives were cut and the business IT division has shrunk by roughly a quarter since the start of the administration.
• Unions signaled legal challenges to the terminations, though it remains unclear whether TIGTA’s findings create direct legal vulnerability for the administration.