The IRS building in Washington on March 10, 2025. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times
The IRS said in an emergency message to staff that it will furlough more than 34,000 employees starting on Oct. 8 due to the government shutdown.
“Due to the lapse in appropriations, most IRS operations are closed,” the IRS said in an Oct. 8 announcement. “An IRS-wide furlough began on October 8, 2025, for everyone except already-identified excepted and exempt employees.”
The furloughs amount to about 46 percent of the agency’s workforce. Call center employees, IT workers, and most headquarters staff will be sent home, according to the statement. Employees assigned to carry out the tax and spending law that President Donald Trump signed in July will continue working.
In an internal memorandum, acting IRS Human Capital Officer David Traynor said the furlough was being implemented under emergency procedures because Congress had not passed a fiscal 2026 appropriation or a continuing resolution by the Oct. 1 deadline. Employees not designated as excepted or exempt were placed in non-pay, non-duty status effective immediately, until further notice.
“All employees should plan to report to work for their next tour of duty,” the IRS emergency message stated, adding that staff would be given up to four hours to close out pending tasks and receive their formal furlough notices. Once the orderly shutdown is complete, employees are prohibited by law from working, “even on a voluntary basis,” Traynor said in the memo.
Furloughed workers will receive their next scheduled paycheck on Oct. 16 for hours worked before the shutdown, Traynor said in a separate letter, adding that “we cannot predict when pay may resume” for sidelined IRS staff.
Traynor’s letter also noted that the furlough applies not only to the IRS but to most employees across the Department of the Treasury, which has also suspended regular operations due to the funding lapse.
Treasury employees affected by the shutdown “may face temporary hardship in meeting their financial obligations,” Traynor wrote, urging financial institutions to show flexibility toward federal workers whose pay has been disrupted. The department encouraged creditors to offer “prudent workout arrangements” to help employees remain current on their debts until normal pay resumes.
The IRS said furloughed workers will remain eligible for unemployment benefits and that those seeking assistance can contact their state unemployment offices. Under the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019, furloughed federal workers must receive retroactive pay as early as possible once Congress passes new funding or a continuing resolution, according to the IRS furlough notice.
However, the question of whether back pay will actually be issued has become a flashpoint in Washington. A Trump administration official told The Epoch Times on Oct. 7 that the administration is preparing to argue that the 2019 law requiring back pay is not “self-executing” and would require Congress to specifically authorize those payments in a new spending measure. The position, outlined in a memorandum by Mark Paoletta, general counsel of the Office of Management and Budget, suggests that furloughed employees may not automatically receive compensation for time spent out of work.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said at an Oct. 7 press conference that the legal issue could increase the urgency for Democrats to accept a funding deal, though he added that both he and President Donald Trump “hope that the furloughed workers receive back pay.”
Union leaders and Senate Democrats disputed the administration’s interpretation.
“The letter of the law is as plain as can be—federal workers, including furloughed workers, are entitled to their back pay following a shutdown,” Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) wrote on X, calling the administration’s position “another baseless attempt to try and scare & intimidate workers.”
Johnson said on Oct. 8 that he expects that federal workers will ultimately receive back pay despite the presence of a legal analysis that suggests otherwise, adding that he thinks “they should be” paid.
Reuters contributed to this report.
