DOGE caucus leader demands IRS crackdown as nearly 6K staff owe up to $46M in back taxes

Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, the top Republican in the Senate's government efficiency (DOGE) caucus, is urging the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to conduct another audit of its current and former employees and contractors, who, as of May 2023, owed nearly $46 million in delinquent taxes.

Just under 6,000 IRS employees and contractors were audited to have not paid their taxes as of May 2023, with only about a third on payment plans, according to a Treasury inspector general report last year.