IRS Has No Reduction in Force Planned for Now, Bessent Says

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told IRS executives there wouldn’t be a reduction in force at the IRS in the foreseeable future, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Bessent is serving as acting IRS commissioner, the seventh person this year to lead the agency after Billy Long, the confirmed chief, was removed earlier this month.

The IRS workforce will drop by about a quarter to roughly 75,000 employees this year amid the Trump administration’s efforts to downsize the federal government. Most of the departures come from the administration’s deferred resignation offer, which allowed employees to be on ...