Ongoing coverage of Trump and Musk’s efforts to curb free speech and gut the Internal Revenue Service
4/14/25 Update from Anonymous IRS Employee
Just before the Hot Seat: Media Monday broadcast, I spoke to the anonymous source whom I interviewed with Cassandra Harris Lockwook on April 9, 2025, Hot Seat (listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts), the source told me these things;
They are still on administrative leave. They are being paid but are not allowed to come into the office or do any work.
Their most recent pay stubs indicate that Trump illegally halted this employee’s automatic payment of union dues, and to their knowledge, the same is true. This aligns with the Trump Administration’s goal of weakening workers’ rights and stripping Americans of their right to organize and collectively bargain for better pay and working conditions.
I asked the IRS employee why they thought Trump and Elon
Musk might be trying to eliminate workers’ unionization rights.
“It’s a lot easier to control the workers,” the source said. “[They’re] looking for a reason to fire us.”
4/12/25 Update from Anonymous IRS Employee
An IRS probationary employee speaking off the record told 95.5 FM “The Heat,” that they have been told, “Every Friday they’re doing RIFs [Reduction in Force]. They want 50% of the backline employees [including investigators] and 20% of frontline employees [who provide direct customer service] gone.” This confirms what was posted on the Federal News Network on April 9, 2025.
Further, this worker and other probationary employees who had intended to return to the office on Monday, April 14, 2025, have been informed of a “pause on federal probationary employees coming back [to work].” They were told this was “based on recent court decisions,” referring to the Supreme Court decision on April 8, 2025, overturning a lower court ruling and clearing the way for the Trump Administration to fire 16,000 civil servants.
The worker who spoke to 95.5 FM “The Heat” says that they had been planning to return to work on Monday (April 14, 2025) but are currently on administrative leave. This means they continue to be paid and receive benefits, but are forbidden from going into the office or doing any of their work.
When asked if they ever expect to return to work at the IRS, they replied that they do not expect to ever return to their jobs, despite the heavy backlog of work they left behind.
“They got their way not to have to hire us back,” the IRS worker said.
4/9/25 Hot Seat: A Fired IRS Worker Speaks Out!
Cassandra Harris Lockwood and Ron Klopfanstein host this special edition of the Hot Seat, in which an IRS worker whose job was targeted by President Trump and Elon Musk’s DOGE project describes the uncertainty and anxiety within the Internal Revenue Service and explains its potential implications for American taxpayers. Note: The originally announced guest canceled their appearance because they were threatened with retaliation by the governmental agency that had employed them.
Works referenced during this broadcast:
Ron Klopfanstein is an award-winning multimedia investigative journalist, news and features editor, and creative content producer for 95.5 FM “The Heat” broadcast and streaming. He hosts Hot Seat: Media Monday every Monday at 5 pm, broadcast on 95.5 FM and streaming at 955TheHeat.com. Like him at Facebook.com/ReadRonKlopfanstein, Follow him at Bsky.app/profile/ronklopfanstein.bsky.social, Threads.net/@RonKlopfanstein, Instagram.com/RonKlopfanstein, Tiktok.com/@ronklopfanstein, and subscribe to his channel at YouTube.com/@RonKlopfanstein. Listen to the Hot Seat: Media Monday podcast on Spotify and Apple: Read all his work at Muckrack.com/ron-klopfanstein.
