Firings are focused on new hires, many of whom investigate fraud and evasion.

Thousands of people were fired from the IRS this week in the thick of tax season. Most of those fired were “probationary” workers, people typically having served in their roles for under two years. The cuts are part of the Trump administration’s widespread efforts to downsize the federal workforce,

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,