Top IRS lawyer pushed aside as DOGE seeks records and 20 percent staff cuts

Source: Washington Post

The Trump administration on Thursday removed the Internal Revenue Service’s top lawyer and rolled out plans to downsize nearly 20 percent of the agency’s staff as billionaire Elon Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service seeks access to sensitive taxpayer records, according to five people familiar with the matter.

William Paul, a career official named to the position in January, will be replaced by Andrew De Mello, who was nominated to be the Education Department’s inspector general during Trump’s first term, three of the people said. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak with the media.

Also, DOGE officials instructed the acting IRS commissioner to eliminate 18,141 jobs across the agency by May 15, according to records obtained by The Washington Post.

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The internal reshuffling comes as career staff clash with DOGE officials over attempts to access taxpayer information widely viewed as some of the most closely guarded records in the federal government. The Trump Department of Homeland Security has pushed IRS officials for the addresses of about 700,000 undocumented immigrants — a request viewed by career staff as violating the law. DOGE, which stands for Department of Government Efficiency, has also pressed for tax agency systems, property and datasets.

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Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/03/13/musk-doge-irs-trump/