The IRS will furlough nearly half of its workforce on Wednesday as part of the ongoing government shutdown, according to an updated contingency plan posted to its website. Most IRS operations are closed, the agency said in a separate letter to its workers.
The news comes after President Donald Trump and Congress failed to strike an agreement to fund federal operations, and the government shutdown has entered its second week, with no discernible endgame in sight.
The agency’s initial Lapsed Appropriations Contingency Plan, which provided for the first five business days of operations, stated that the department would remain open using Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act funds.
Now, only 39,870 employees, or 53.6%, will remain working as the shutdown continues. It is unclear which workers will remain on the job.
Doreen Greenwald, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, said in a statement that taxpayers should expect increased wait times, backlogs and delays implementing tax law changes as the shutdown continues.
“Taxpayers around the country will now have a much harder time getting the assistance they need, just as they get ready to file their extension returns due next week,” she said. “Every day these employees are locked out of work is another day of frustration for taxpayers and a growing backlog of work that sits and waits for the shutdown to end.”
She urged the Trump administration and Congress to “reach an agreement that reopens government and restores the services that Americans need and deserve.” --->READ MORE HERE
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) rejected voting on a standalone bill to fund US military members’ salaries Wednesday, as the federal government shutdown entered its second week.
Johnson pointed out during a press conference that the seven-week stopgap funding measure passed by the House on Sept. 19 would have fully funded troops’ pay.
“We already had that vote,” the House speaker said. “Every Republican and at least one Democrat had the common sense to say, ‘Of course, we want the government to stay in operation. Of course, we want to pay our troops and our air traffic controllers and our Border Patrol agents, TSA, and everybody else.’”
Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine) was the only member of his party to break ranks and vote for full funding of the government until Nov. 21.
“House Democrats … are clamoring to get back here and have another vote because some of them want to get on record and say they’re for paying the troops,” Johnson also suggested Wednesday.
Last month, Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-Va.) proposed legislation guarenteeing service members would not be left short of money if the government shut down any time before the beginning of 2027.
“The President has made it clear: we must pay our troops,” Kiggans, whose district includes a sizable military population centered around Naval Station Norfolk, said in a statement on X.
“I’m urging the Speaker and our House leadership to immediately pass my bill to ensure our servicemembers, many of whom live paycheck to paycheck while supporting their families, receive the pay they’ve earned.”
The next check for military members is scheduled to be sent Oct. 15, but the money will be delayed if the government isn’t reopened by then.
“They made that decision. The House is done. The ball is now in the Senate’s court. … It does us no good to be here dithering on show votes,” Johnson said. --->READ MORE HERE
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