The Washington Post recently enumerated the numerous political problems facing Elon Musk’s DOGE initiative (Department of Governmental Efficiency). Trumps supporters are pushing back against their congress members, protesting cuts to favorite government programs; President Trump recently told Musk that only agency heads determine which federal employees are cut; and DOGE is grappling with bad public relations and is trying have its work seen as a win for the average citizen rather than as a callous and undisciplined attack on the country’s federal agencies.
As a former IRS attorney, I feel qualified to comment on DOGE’s actions as the IRS. When DOGE demanded access to the IRS’s IDRS database (Integrated Data Retrieval System) which contains highly detailed data on every U.S. taxpayer’s addresses, bank accounts, tax returns, W2s, 1099s and SSNs, I publicly objected. I believe (1) Trump will use taxpayer information as a political weapon when convenient; (2) giving DOGE access to sensitive taxpayer data that includes bank accounts and SSNs increases the risk of identity theft; and (3) relaxing the stringent confidentiality controls on IDRS taxpayer data will reduce taxpayer compliance and increase tax evasion.
We now have reports that DOGE wants to cut the IRS staff by as much as 50 percent and alter its mission. For the last few decades, many conservative groups have wanted to starve the IRS; they felt burned by the Lois Lerner scandal, they think the IRS is populated by left-leaning, feather-bedding bureaucrats, and that its management and taxpayer services are abysmal; and they prefer laxer enforcement of tax laws, especially for wealthier Americans, which is where audit activity is concentrated.
But I don’t know how starving the IRS of funding or personnel solves these administrative problems. The Lois Lerner scandal is in the past (and I think was overhyped at the time). Firing and replacing all the IRS personnel with right-leaning personnel is a tall order: how does one recruit the skilled workforce needed to administer the country’s tax regime? And if the IRS is abysmally managed and can’t answer the phones, giving it less money is unlikely to make things better.
And when it comes to the IRS, the elephant in the room is the federal budget. The vast majority of the federal government’s revenues come through income tax. Hiring more IRS personnel has a multiplier effect: for every new dollar spent on the IRS, it collects between $5 and $9. Our country has a high rate of voluntary compliance, relative to many other countries. Breaking the IRS threatens to increase tax law-breaking, reducing the government’s receipts. If we reduce government receipts, it’s harder to balance the budget.
One of our country’s biggest issues, which we all avoid, is the national debt. When a country spends more on debt service than on defense, it generally ceases to be a great power. We are there now. Gutting the IRS is not a way to turn this around. We need to maximize the legitimate collection of taxes in this country, which requires a fully staffed IRS.
March 25, 2025