The Trump administration is continuing its purge of the federal government, preparing to fire tens of thousands of federal employees. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) are slated to cut a combined total of 120,000 jobs, according to multiple reports.

An internal memo Tuesday from VA Chief of Staff Christopher Syrek informed department officials that the agency is to return to 2019 staffing levels, which would require firing approximately 80,000 employees, bringing the VA’s staff total to just under 400,000. In a statement, the White House said that the VA’s “bureaucracy and bloat” has “hindered veterans’ ability to receive timely and quality care,” promising that changes at the VA will “ensure greater efficiency and transparency.”

In a video addressing the upcoming staffing changes, VA Secretary Doug Collins explained, “For many years, veterans have been asking for a more efficient, accountable, and transparent VA. This administration is finally going to give the veterans what they want.” He added, “President Trump has a mandate for generational change in Washington and that’s exactly what we’re going to deliver at the VA.” Collins noted that the staffing changes would follow “a department-wide review of [the VA’s] organization, operations, and structure.”

“Central to these efforts is a pragmatic and disciplined approach to eliminating waste and bureaucracy, increasing efficiency, and improving health care, benefits, and services to veterans,” the secretary added. He continued, “Our goal is to reduce VA employment levels to 2019 end-strength numbers — roughly 398,000 employees — from our current level of approximately 470,000 employees.” Collins pledged that the staffing changes would not impact health care and benefits for veterans. He emphasized, “The days of kicking the can down the road and measuring VA’s progress by how much money it spends and how many people it employs, rather than how many veterans it helps are over.”

The IRS is also slashing its workforce — nearly in half. According to several unnamed sources with knowledge of the plans, 40,000 of the current 90,000 IRS employees are going to be either fired or offered “buyout” options incentivizing employees to resign. According to the Associated Press, 56% of the agency’s employees are “people of color,” and 65% of employees are women. White House Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino, a longtime friend and advisor to President Donald Trump, suggested last week that the IRS should not only be downsized but eliminated altogether. “Time to abolish the IRS,” Scavino said in a social media post. Trump has previously teased the possibility of abolishing the IRS and replacing the revenue from income taxes with revenue generated by tariffs.

Both the VA and IRS are making cuts based on the recommendations of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), charged with identifying and eliminating waste and fraud throughout the federal government. So far, DOGE’s recommendations have yielded staff cuts across numerous departments and agencies. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) recently fired at least 1,600 employees and placed almost all remaining employees on administrative leave, and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) fired all U.S. attorneys appointed by former president Joe Biden. Other departments and agencies that have cut staff include the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), where over 400 employees were dismissed, including 200 Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) employees; the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), where approximately 3,600 probationary employees were laid off; the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA); Department of the Interior (DOI); Department of Energy (DOE); Department of Agriculture (USDA); and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is also likely to initiate mass firings, following a review by DOGE.

However, the Trump administration’s government purge has faced setbacks. After a federal judge temporarily halted the mass firing of probationary employees, the White House revised a directive it had previously issued, no longer mandating the firing of all probationary workers but instead leaving terminations to the discretion of individual departments or agencies. Federal judges have taken aim at numerous Trump directives and initiatives, but so have other federal bodies: the Merit Systems Protection Board, for example, ordered that the Trump administration reinstate at least 6,000 fired USDA employees.

Various agencies have also reversed their own personnel decisions. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC), for example, just rehired nearly 200 employees it fired last month. An email sent to 180 former CDC workers told them to “return to duty under your previous work schedule,” since the agency rescinded its decision to fire the employees “after further review and consideration.”