The U.S. Treasury Department is preparing to implement sweeping workforce reductions affecting a "substantial number" of employees, according to a sworn court statement from a senior official, as part of a broader initiative backed by President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk to shrink the federal government.
The planned layoffs are tied to Trump's executive order establishing the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, an initiative aimed at consolidating federal functions and rolling back hiring increases made during the Biden administration. Treasury human resources deputy assistant secretary Trevor Norris confirmed the department is finalizing reduction-in-force plans in an affidavit filed Tuesday.
"These plans will be tailored for each bureau, and in many cases will require separations of substantial numbers of employees through reductions in force (RIFs)," Norris stated in the court filing.
The Treasury Department employs more than 100,000 people across key bureaus, including the Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Mint, Bureau of the Fiscal Service, and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. The department did not specify how many roles could be eliminated or which divisions would be most affected.
The court filing was submitted in connection with a lawsuit brought by the state of Maryland seeking a stay on pending federal layoffs. Several judges have issued temporary restraining orders halting DOGE-related firings across 18 agencies while legal proceedings continue.
Norris noted that the next round of layoffs would "disproportionately affect" probationary employees who had only recently been hired and reinstated under prior rulings. "Reductions-in-force are based on seniority," he told the court.
A Treasury spokesperson said the department is evaluating several cost-cutting options. "The Treasury Department is considering a number of measures to increase efficiency, including a rollback of wasteful Biden-era hiring surges, and consolidation of critical support functions to improve both efficiency and quality of service," the spokesperson said. "No final decisions have yet been made, and any current reporting to the contrary is false."
Bloomberg News first reported the pending layoffs.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has emphasized that DOGE is not intended to dismantle the federal workforce, stating: "DOGE stands for the Department of Government Efficiency, not the 'Department of Government Elimination.'"
