Another federal agency is getting dragged into the GOP’s shutdown mess.

The Internal Revenue Service announced Wednesday that it’s furloughing nearly half its workforce as the government shutdown drags on. Work to prepare for next year’s tax season will continue, but taxpayer services like call centers will grind to a halt. So will non-automated tax collections and, as the agency put it, “most headquarters and administrative functions not related to the safety of life and protection of property,” according to its latest contingency plan.

The scale is massive: about 34,400 employees will be furloughed, while roughly 39,870—just over half the workforce—will stay on the job.

Initially, the IRS avoided furloughs thanks to funding from the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. But that stopgap was o

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