As the IRS fired thousands of workers across the country on Thursday, many laid-off employees walked out of the headquarters in Washington, D.C., for the last time.

A tearful executive at the U.S. Internal Revenue Service told staffers on Thursday that about 6,000 employees would be fired, a person familiar with the matter said, in a move that would eliminate roughly 6% of the agency's workforce in the midst of the busy tax-filing season.

President Trump and his friend Elon Musk have fired thousands of government workers since Trump took office last month.

Some collections and audits are likely to be paused, and one-on-one personal service is set to be more limited.

The layoffs largely include workers in compliance departments. Compliance work includes ensuring that taxpayers are abiding by the tax code, filing their returns and paying their taxes, among other du

The IRS will lay off roughly 7,000 workers in Washington and around the country beginning Thursday, a person familiar with the plans told The Associated Press. The layoffs affect probationary employees with roughly one year or less of service at the agency and largely include workers in compliance departments,