‘Bounce-back emails and no-replies’: IRS and Social Security workforce reductions are hurting constituent service, House Democrats argue

Members of Congress say that the Trump administration’s efforts to shrink the sizes of federal agencies are preventing them from helping their constituents.

In July 23 letters to the IRS and Social Security Administration, more than 50 House Democrats reported that their staffers assisting members of the public with matters like tax refunds and Social Security payments are receiving “bounce-back emails and no-replies from [agency] legislative liaison offices that were previously responsive to congressional inquiries.”

“Trump and [the Department of Government Efficiency’s] layoffs are affecting more than just the federal workforce — they have delayed millions of dollars in casework requests for our constituents,” said Rep. Gil Cisneros, D-Calif., who spearheaded the letters, in a statement. “These critical services have become collateral damage in Trump’s careless mission to destroy our federal agencies and decimate their workforce.” 

The congressional Democrats requested that the IRS and SSA, by July 31, provide them with their reduction in force and reorganization plans as well as the number of employees at the agencies who worked with congressional offices on constituent casework who have left government service. 

“Amidst this series of rapid layoff announcements, Congress has yet to receive access to real-time, authoritative data sources tracking separations from the federal workforce and their impacts,” according to the letter. 

The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration recently reported that IRS’ workforce has decreased by 25%, with most of the departures attributable to employees taking deferred resignation or another separation incentive.  

In his fiscal 2026 budget, Trump requested a funding increase to hire 11,000 IRS customer service employees after 8,600 such workers separated from the agency. Officials warned that without such infusion the tax agency’s service level would drop significantly. 

SSA intends to reduce its headcount by 7,000 this fiscal year. Officials recently reassigned 1,000 field office customer support representatives to staff the agency’s main 1-800 number. Union leaders said this is worsening workloads in field offices. 

The Partnership for Public Service, a nonpartisan good government group, in June released survey data about Americans’ views on the Trump administration’s layoffs of federal employees that found delivery of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits was the service respondents were most concerned about being impacted by the cuts (52%). 

SSA did not respond to a request for comment. An IRS spokesperson said that “it would be inappropriate for [an agency] response to appear in the news media rather than to the members themselves through normal channels.”

The Trump administration has generally argued that agency staff cuts are necessary to provide more government services more efficiently.