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 because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

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.

IRS managers on 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. “Under an executive order, IRS has been directed to terminate probationary employees who were not deemed critical to filing season,” one such email reads.

— The New York Times