The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) removed the requirement that special-agent applicants carry firearms and “be willing to use deadly force” from a job listing.
Documentarian Ford Fischer tweeted a screenshot of the IRS careers website, which included mentions of “irregular hours” and being on-call 24 hours in addition to holidays and weekends. It also cited the IRS’ Criminal Investigation team—described as “the law enforcement branch of the IRS”—which requires special agents to “combine accounting skills with law enforcement skills to investigate financial crimes.”
The IRS is hiring new special agents!
Requirements include working min “50 hours per week, which may include irregular hours, and be on-call 24/7, including holidays and weekends” and “Carry a firearm and be willing to use deadly force, if necessary.”https://t.co/uvwbrAkIit pic.twitter.com/z0aVX6uoMr
— Ford Fischer (@FordFischer) August 10, 2022
At the time of Fischer’s tweet, the IRS website’s job description for special agents included the requirement that they be able to carry a firearm and be willing to use deadly force if necessary. However, as of Friday morning, the listing had been edited to omit those two requirements.
Newsweek reached out to the IRS for clarification about when mentions of deadly force were removed from job descriptions, and whether backlash from social media or otherwise led to the change.
The IRS has been under intense scrutiny lately, particularly by conservatives who…
