Nearly half of IRS workforce furloughed amid government shutdown, leading to office closures across Western Pennsylvania 

About half of the approximately 500 Internal Revenue Service employees in Western Pennsylvania have been furloughed and walk-in offices from Erie to Uniontown are shuttered because of the federal government shutdown, the union representing those employees said Thursday.

The news comes as the IRS said on Wednesday it planned to furlough nearly half of its employees nationwide as the federal government remains unfunded.

Elizabeth McPeak, first vice president of National Treasury Employees Union Chapter 34, which represents IRS employees across Western Pennsylvania, said furloughed staff were told to pick up and go home midday Wednesday.

“We want to work. We took these jobs to serve America,” McPeak said in a news release. “We are people, not political pawns. We call on Congress to do its job. End the shutdown and get us back to work.”

The furloughs have caused the closure of taxpayer services, including walk-in IRS offices in Pittsburgh, Cranberry, Monroeville, Erie, Johnstown and Altoona, according to NTEU 34.

Most local IRS taxpayer advocates – who help resolve complex tax issues that need more than the standard help – were sent home. In addition, many local examiners, who ensure companies and international businesses pay their required taxes, have been furloughed.

Most of the local furloughed employees work in Downtown Pittsburgh. 

A representative for the IRS did not immediately return a request for comment. 

The Associated Press reported that a notice sent to IRS employees said furloughed workers and employees who remain on the job would receive back pay. 

The AP also noted that just 53.6% of the IRS’ national workforce remain on the job and that most of its services will be closed until the government shutdown ends.  

IRS employee layoffs earlier this year led by the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency affected tens of thousands of workers, according to the AP. The IRS had about 100,000 employees across the country at the end of 2024, and that number is now about 75,000. 

“Employees need to be treated with dignity and respect,” Charleen Cline Stephansky, president of NTEU 34, said in a prepared statement. “Since January, all federal employees have suffered indignities for simply doing their job. 

“The administration claims they want the best and the brightest working in the government, but they have already forced out way too many of them,” she continued. “We are bipartisan and have always been so. We took an oath to the Constitution and work every day to uphold those principles. 

“Congress needs to do its job and get federal employees back to the work they want to do, which is helping all Americans. Congress can do much better.”