NEWS / Elon Musk aide at DOGE to scrutinize IRS

The United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will be facing scrutiny from Gavin Kliger, one of Elon Musk’s top aides at the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Kliger visited the IRS’s headquarters in Washington, DC, on Thursday, February 13, putting many of the tax collection agency’s employees on edge.

According to Reuters, Kliger met with senior executives at the tax collection agency, who had also received an email instructing them to identify “non-essential” contracts for termination. President Donald Trump commended Musk and DOGE for their efforts to cut costs, waste, and fraud across multiple federal agencies, including the IRS.

The General Services Administration (GSA), the main federal contract managing agency, will reportedly be reviewing IRS contracts to determine if they are “non-essential”, defined as one “merely generates a report, research, coaching, or an artifact,” according to email received by the IRS.

Critics have cautioned that drastic cuts to the IRS during tax season, which last until April 15, could delay the processing of 2024 tax returns and the provision of taxpayer assistance, while supporters have noted that the IRS’s budget has many non-essential and potentially wasteful initiatives.

Gavin Kliger’s has the position “Special Advisor to the Director” at the Office of Personnel Management, according to his LinkedIn profile. His recruitment by Elon Musk was met with criticism, as Kliger reportedly re-posted content from controversial white supremacist Nick Fuentes and self-described misogynist Andrew Tate, according to another Reuters report.