The IRS began its efforts to lay off 25% of its workforce, 20,000 jobs, on Friday in an expected move.

Cuts at the IRS had been speculated with a report last month detailing that the agency could cut up to half of its workforce. The Department of Government Efficiency likely considers the agency, long maligned by Republicans, as a prime target for cuts in its cost-saving mission. Thousands of employees at the agency had either accepted deferred resignation offers or, if they were probationary, already laid off.

The agency announced it was eliminating the Office of Civil Rights and Compliance, firing around 130 employees, with the rest being transferred to different departments. “This action is being taken to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the IRS,” an email to employees obtained by the Washington Post said.

A Treasury Department spokesperson told the outlet that the cuts “will be part of — and driven by — process improvements and technological innovations that will allow the IRS to collect revenue and serve taxpayers more effectively.”

At the State Department, diplomats are being pushed out before expected staffing cuts. According to Politico, cuts in the diplomatic corps and National Security Council are expected. The State Department has also been targeted by DOGE, with the shuttering of the U.S. Agency for International Development one of the more prominent moves, for significant reductions in force and budget.

The cuts align with the more isolationist policy taken by the Trump administration, which has prioritized American affairs and goods over foreign policy. With consumers likely to see rising prices on imports, they could prioritize American-made products. The recent sweeping tariffs also risk alienating the United States’s allies as America treads into several different trade wars at once. There’s fear it could influence the reaction of America’s allies if another terrorist attack were to rock the nation.

“Who does President Trump think will help us when we need allied forces for operations critical to the security of the United States?” Kori Schake, the director of foreign and defense Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute, told the New York Times. “And who is going to sympathize with Americans if there is another 9/11, given the behavior of the government of the United States?”

The tariffs news also supersedes mass planned cuts at the Energy Department, which likely has very different goals than during the Biden administration. More than 8,500 positions across the department and the National Nuclear Security Administration are at risk.

An Energy Department spokesperson told the Associated Press that multiple plans are being considered and no final decisions have been made when asked whether large-scale firings were coming.

Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) and Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) released a joint statement to the outlet expressing their concern. “It is extremely concerning that the department is reportedly considering firing the very experts tasked with maintaining a safe, secure and reliable nuclear weapons stockpile. These dangerous cuts should not transpire. We call for this foolishness to be set aside.”

Of the 17,500 positions within the department, only 9,004 have been deemed essential, according to the outlet.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright said his department grew too large during the Biden administration and he’s not optimizing it.

“The biggest barrier in energy development the last few decades is people, for political reasons, calling climate change a crisis,” Wright said.

One of America’s main energy competitors, China, announced that they would be striking back at the United States with a 34% counter tariff after a 34% tariff was placed on them. The action contributed to another steep drop in the stock market as the S&P 500 fell 6% in fear of the intensifying trade war.

The stock market previously dropped after Trump announced he’d be placing a 10% baseline tariff on every country with additional tariffs based on what they charge the U.S.

TRACKING WHAT DOGE IS DOING ACROSS THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

The tariffs have placed the economy at risk, Goldman Sachs analysts predicted. They predicted a 60% chance of a U.S. and global recession in large part because of Trump’s tariffs.

And a recession would likely cover any Trump administration move originating from DOGE or elsewhere, though it could stain the president’s second-term legacy.

“He firmly believes it, and he firmly believes in making this bet,” CNN commentator Scott Jennings said on Thursday. “I mean, he’s betting his presidency on this issue, which is probably the most closely and longest-held political and economic belief that he’s ever had. He’s been talking about doing it for 40 years.”