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Did Biden hire an additional 89,000 agents?
Executive summary
Public reporting shows claims that "Biden hired an additional 89,000 agents" stem from a 2021 Treasury estimate that roughly 86,852 additional IRS staff could be hired over ten years if roughly $78–$80 billion were provided; fact-checkers say that figure does not mean 87,000 new enforcement “agents” were immediately hired or that all would be auditors (Time, Snopes, National Interest) [1] [2] [3]. Conservative and advocacy outlets have used the headline number as an active political claim; other outlets and fact-checkers note most hires would be phased in, include many non‑enforcement roles, and largely replace attrition [4] [5] [6].
1. Where the 87,000/86,852 number comes from — an administrative estimate, not an instant hiring spree
The commonly cited figure traces to a Treasury Department analysis estimating that an $78 billion boost to the IRS phased in over 10 years could enable hiring roughly 86,852 additional employees by 2031; that projection was descriptive of possible staffing enabled by funding, not a statement that 86,852 new enforcement agents were immediately hired under President Biden [1] [3] [2].
2. What kinds of jobs those additional positions would be — enforcement vs. non‑enforcement
Multiple fact-checks and analyses emphasize that only a portion of any expanded headcount would be enforcement staff. The Inflation Reduction Act directed about $45.6 billion toward enforcement, but the Treasury and CBO calculations foresee many hires filling non‑enforcement roles (customer service, IT, processing) and replacing retirements — not solely creating 87,000 new auditors who will target middle‑class Americans [5] [1] [6].
3. Political messaging has amplified and simplified the number into a scare line
Republican politicians, advocacy groups, and some opinion outlets have framed the 86,852/87,000 figure as an “army” of agents coming after ordinary taxpayers; examples include speeches at the RNC and op-eds urging defunding. These pieces often present the number without the caveats in the underlying Treasury estimate, turning a ten‑year staffing projection into an immediate, enforcement‑heavy threat [4] [7] [8].
4. What fact‑checkers and analysts say — common corrections and disagreements
Time, Snopes, and other fact‑checking outlets explicitly say the claim that Biden is hiring 87,000 new IRS agents to audit the middle class is misleading: the estimate refers to potential hires over a decade, many roles are not enforcement, and some hires would replace expected attrition rather than add net new staff [1] [2]. Conservative policy shops and commentators, such as The Heritage Foundation and Americans for Tax Reform, contest administration assurances and calculate possible enforcement allocations; they argue even a minority share devoted to audits could increase enforcement pressure on households and businesses [5] [4].
5. How many people were actually added? Reporting shows hiring fell short of the headline figure
Available reporting indicates the IRS did not instantly add tens of thousands of enforcement agents; at points in 2022 the IRS workforce numbered roughly 79,000 with about 10,000 characterized as agents (revenue auditors or criminal investigators), meaning the headline 87,000 staffing expansion would be gradual and not all enforcement [6]. Some local reporting and opinion pieces say actual hiring was substantially below the theoretical maximum — possibly only a portion (25,000–30,000) of additional hires — but those latter numbers are described in opinion or single‑source reports rather than centralized government tallies in the provided set [9].
6. Practical implications and remaining uncertainties
What matters to taxpayers is how much of any increased budget is used for enforcement, how hires are allocated (high‑income/high‑wealth compliance vs. returns of low‑ and middle‑income filers), and how audits change over time; Treasury and the IRS have said enforcement resources will focus on high‑income and corporate noncompliance, and some letters directed by administration officials instruct the IRS not to increase the audit share for households under certain thresholds — though critics dispute that assurance and modelers at conservative think tanks project increased audits nonetheless [5] [5] [4].
7. Bottom line for readers
The simple headline that “Biden hired an additional 89,000 agents” is not supported by the sources in this file: the 86,852/87,000 figure is an estimate of potential hires enabled by multi‑year funding, not an immediate hiring of 87,000 enforcement agents, and many of the positions would be non‑enforcement or replacements for attrition [1] [2] [6]. Disagreement remains over how many enforcement staff will ultimately be added and whom they will audit; both administration assurances and conservative analyses should be read with their policy and political agendas in mind [5] [4].
Limitations: available sources in this set do not provide a definitive final count of hires completed through 2025, so precise totals of actual new enforcement agents hired are not found in current reporting here (not found in current reporting).