WASHINGTON — About 22,000 employees at the IRS have signed up for the Trump administration’s latest resignation offer, according to four people familiar with the matter, an exodus that could weaken the agency’s ability to collect taxes.

The IRS had about 100,000 employees before President Donald Trump took office. Roughly 5,000 employees have resigned since January, and an additional 7,000 probationary employees were laid off, though those firings have been contested in court. If those layoffs take effect, the agency would be on track to lose about a third of its workforce this year.

Under the terms of the Trump administration’s deferred resignation offer, employees who take the deal will be put on paid administrative leave through September and then leave their federal jobs. Some employees who took the offer could still opt out of resigning.

Losing a third of IRS staff — with remaining employees bracing for further layoffs and funding cuts — is expected to decrease the amount of revenue the federal government is able to collect.

— The New York Times