As the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) digs into federal waste, one adviser says the IRS is in worse shape than most realize.
“It’s hard to really grasp the scale,” Sam Corcos said on The Ingraham Angle Thursday. “We’re in a really deep hole right now.”
Corcos, who works alongside Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, is trying to slim down the bloated IRS. He’s focused on outdated systems, ballooning budgets, and massive contractor spending.
One of his top targets? IRS modernization.
“This is a huge program that’s currently 30 years behind schedule, and it’s already $15 billion over budget,” he said. The IRS, he added, is stuck with legacy tech that’s badly outdated.
Corcos said big banks already moved on from similar systems years ago. Meanwhile, the IRS is still trying to catch up.
“We’re now 35 years into this program,” he said. “If you ask them now, it’s five years away, and it’s been five years away since 1990.”
Bessent, recently confirmed as Trump’s treasury secretary, echoed the frustration. He said powerful interests are choking progress.
“They just keep constricting themselves around the power, around the money, around the systems, and nobody cares,” Bessent said.
He blamed bloated consulting firms.
“Many of the employees are fantastic. It’s this consultant group. They’re like a boa constrictor. They’re like a python,” he said. “The costs are unbelievable. They’re being passed on to the American taxpayer.”
Corcos said 80% of the IRS’s $3.5 billion operations and maintenance budget goes to contractors and licenses. That’s most of the money—gone before it even hits internal systems.
DOGE is reviewing many agencies, not just the IRS. The Trump-Musk push is about cutting red tape, downsizing government, and ramping up efficiency.
But not everyone is on board. Critics are lining up—especially on the left.
“The entrenched interests, the consultants, the Democrats, mainstream media, they just want to blow this project out of the water,” Bessent said. He defended DOGE’s mission. “So what’s wrong with it working better, cheaper, faster, and with more privacy?”
His main goals: “collections, privacy, and customer service.” Right now, he said, none of those are being done well.
“We want people to feel satisfied that they are getting the service they deserve,” Bessent said. “That they’re paying their fair share and not more, not less. And that it’s done quickly, smartly and privately.”