WASHINGTON — The IRS will begin laying off roughly 6,000 employees Thursday as part of the Trump administration’s push to downsize the federal workforce, three people familiar with the agency’s plans said.

The terminations will target relatively recent hires at the IRS, which the Biden administration had attempted to revitalize with a surge of funding and new staff, the people said on the condition of anonymity.

The Trump administration has begun laying off probationary employees — who do not enjoy as much job protection as their more tenured colleagues — across the federal government in recent days.

IRS managers Wednesday began asking employees to report to the office in the coming days and bring with them their government-issued equipment, according to messages viewed by The New York Times.

The IRS employs roughly 100,000 accountants, lawyers and other staff across the country.

“Under an executive order, IRS has been directed to terminate probationary employees who were not deemed critical to filing season,” one such email reads. “We don’t have many details that we are permitted to share, but this is all tied to compliance with the executive order.”

The layoffs come in the middle of tax-filing season.

Former IRS officials and Democrats have warned that losing such a large number of employees could still disrupt the ability of millions of Americans to easily file their taxes this year, even if the layoffs are not supposed to affect those deemed “critical.”

Representatives for the IRS and the Treasury Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Republicans have long pushed for cuts at the IRS, accusing the agency of taking politically motivated steps against conservatives. Some lawmakers, including former Rep. Billy Long, President Donald Trump’s nominee to run the agency, have called for abolishing the tax collector.