The U.S. government is recalling 46,000 IRS workers to the office, without pay, to handle tax refunds. The IRS has been operating with a skeleton staff since the shutdown began Dec. 22, but it announced last week that it would issue tax refunds despite the closure. Earlier on Tuesday, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told a Bloomberg News reporter he expects refunds to go out on time during the shutdown. There had been growing concern that the shutdown would delay refunds going out because the money wouldn't be available for them from Congress. Last week, the administration said customary shutdown policies will be reversed to make the money available and refund payments on time possible. The National Treasury Employees' union, which represents some 70,000 IRS workers, has filed two lawsuits against the government, alleging that it's illegal to force people to work unpaid. "There is no doubt the IRS needs to get ready for the 2019 filing season that starts Jan. 28, and IRS employees want to work," NTEU National President Tony Reardon said in a statement. "But the hard, cold reality is that they've already missed a paycheck and soon they'll be asked to work for free for as long as the shutdown lasts." The IRS said that while it would have some staffers answering phone lines, "taxpayers should be prepared for longer wait times." In addition, in-person taxpayer assistance centers are still closed, and people with appointments at the IRS "should assume their meetings are cancelled."<doc-sep>Dana Bash: This is so telling about where the Republican party is NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 24: Trump Tower stands on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan on August 24, 2018 in New York City. Following new allegations over hush money that former Trump attorney Michael Cohen paid to an adult-film actress, the Manhattan district attorneyÕs office in New York City may seek criminal charges against the Trump Organization in the coming days. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images) WASHINGTON - NOVEMBER 08: US Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner (R-VA) remarks on the resignation of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld at the US Capitol November 8, 2006 in Washington, DC. Warner said he supports President George W. Bush's nomination of former CIA Director Robert Gates for Secretary of Defense. Warner said he anticipates Gates' confirmation before the end of the year. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), joined by Senate Assistant Minority Leader John Thune (R-SD) (L) and Senate Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-MO), speaks following a Senate Republican Policy luncheon at the Russell Senate Office Building on May 18, 2021 in Washington, DC. (CNN) — One of the notable recent elements of this partial government shutdown – the longest in history – is that the Trump administration keeps designating more and more of the federal government essential, or excepted from the furlough, ordering many thousands of workers back to the office to process tax returns, perform safety inspections and more – all without pay. The practical effect is that more government workers will be doing their jobs without their paychecks, but it will also work to mute the impact of the shutdown in the everyday lives of Americans who aren’t directly touched by the shutdown. Only about 25% of the government was affected by the shutdown to begin with since Congress had already funded the Pentagon and other agencies. But there are a growing number of essential tasks performed by that quarter, which includes the Department of Justice, the Treasury Department and the Department of Homeland Security, among others. All have been working without pay. That includes members of the Coast Guard, who had been working throughout the shutdown, but on Tuesday became the first US service members to not be paid because of a shutdown when their paychecks came through empty, Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Karl L. Schultz said. Today you will not be receiving your regularly scheduled paycheck. To the best of my knowledge, this marks the first time in our Nation’s history that servicemembers in a U.S. Armed Force have not been paid during a lapse in appropriations. Read more: https://t.co/5tLzGhK2nt pic.twitter.com/J2o00zWm0k — Admiral Karl Schultz (@ComdtUSCG) January 15, 2019 The largest and most incredible of the switches from furloughed to essential is that the Internal Revenue Service will officially be recalling tens of thousands of workers – 36,000 of them – to process tax filings and refunds. The move runs afoul of previous guidance but will be welcome news to Americans who rely on refunds. Less so for the IRS workers forced to work without pay if the shutdown carries forward. That means well more than half the IRS workforce – 57% – will be working despite the shutdown. They aren’t the only IRS employees being recalled. When the mortgage industry faced the prospect of issuing fewer mortgages because employees of the IRS income verification service were furloughed, potentially slowing home purchases, the mortgage industry complained and the IRS decided to get the service back up and running and allow those few workers to collect paychecks by diverting fees the service collects. The top official at the Mortgage Bankers Association told The Washington Post he made a direct appeal to officials at the Treasury Department. “Could you make these guys essential?” was the question Robert Broeksmit, chief executive of the Mortgage Bankers Association, told the Post he directed at the Treasury Department. Those workers will be paid using user fees. Federal courts, which are not controlled by the administration, have now twice announced that existing funds could help their work force limp along with pay. The latest guidance is that court offices will run out of money January 25, at which point essential staff will work without pay. One group that hadn’t been working is Food and Drug Administration food inspectors, who hadn’t been inspecting food since the partial shutdown began. But it was announced Monday that inspectors would return, without pay, to start inspections again. The FDA administrator praised the inspector workforce for being the “tip of the spear” of consumer safety when he announced the move on Twitter. The Federal Aviation Administration announced Tuesday it would recall an additional group of furloughed employees, according to the New York Times, adding thousands of unpaid workers to the air traffic controllers and other FAA employees who had been working since the shutdown started. Food inspections, law enforcement and taxes – the list of essential or recalled employees grows. And it also includes the National Park Service, which has recalled some rangers to keep parks open, as some were overflowing with trash and waste, despite the shutdown. When it looked like hunters might not be able to use federal grounds to hunt, the US Fish and Wildlife Service ordered some workers back on the job using funds carried over from the previous appropriations for the next month, according to NPR. An Alaska office of the Bureau of Land Management found a way to stay open to get required public comment sessions on a new pipeline out of the way. There’s a big difference between public comment sessions and food inspections or law enforcement activities. But as the shutdown continues with nothing in the way of constructive debate on how to end it occurring, it’s notable that parts of the government are finding ways to stay open even though they have no funding. The idea is that workers will eventually get back pay. Much has been written about how this longest-ever government shutdown is hurting federal workers who are either furloughed or working without pay and the human and financial toll of so many having to either dip into savings or, as their government suggests, offer to do chores in lieu of pay their rent. Those called back to work will have a harder time making that barter. The last time the government shut down, Mick Mulvaney, who was then director of the Office of Management and Budget and is now acting White House chief of staff, said the Trump administration would treat shutdowns differently and keep them from being “weaponized” as he alleged the Obama administration did to make the shutdown seem worse than it actually was. The opposite seems to be happening in this record-breaking shutdown as more and more government workers are being recalled to lessen the effects on the rest of the country. It only suggests more and more of the government is, in point of fact, “essential.”<doc-sep>The Trump administration has recalled thousands of federal workers across multiple agencies, part of a broader effort to keep basic government services intact despite a funding lapse that on Tuesday entered its 25th day. The Federal Aviation Administration said Tuesday it expects about 2,200 inspectors to return to the job this week. Similarly, the Food and Drug Administration has also recalled hundreds of workers to conduct inspections of “high risk food facilities,” as well as inspectors of facilities that manufacture drugs and medical devices, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said on twitter on Tuesday.<doc-sep>
The Treasury Department on Tuesday released a shutdown contingency plan for the IRS during the tax-filing season, less than two weeks before the IRS will start processing tax returns. Under the filing season plan, significantly more IRS employees will be working than have been during the first few weeks of the shutdown. While only 12.5 percent of the agency's roughly 80,000 employees were working under the nonfiling-season plan, 57.4 percent of the agency's workforce will be working under the filing season plan. The plan has been eagerly awaited by lawmakers and tax professionals, who have expressed concerns that the funding lapse to the IRS could complicate the upcoming filing season — the first that reflects many of the changes made to the code by President Trump Donald TrumpTrump lashes out after grand jury seated for New York criminal probe Schumer tees up vote on Jan. 6 commission bill Senators struggle to save Jan. 6 commission MORE's tax law. ADVERTISEMENT Among those who will be called back to work are IRS employees involved in the payment of refunds. The IRS announced earlier this month that it will pay refunds during the shutdown, though in the past the agency had been directed not to pay refunds during a funding lapse. Employees who respond to taxpayers' filing-season questions at call sites are also among those who will be working during the filing season, according to the contingency plan. The tax-filing season will start on Jan. 28. In most states, the deadline to file tax returns will be April 15. Tony Reardon — president of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), which represents IRS employees — expressed concerns about the fact the IRS employees called back to work will not be paid while the shutdown persists. “There is no doubt the IRS needs to get ready for the 2019 filing season that starts Jan. 28, and IRS employees want to work," Reardon said in a statement. "But the hard, cold reality is that they’ve already missed a paycheck and soon they’ll be asked to work for free for as long as the shutdown lasts.” Earlier on Tuesday, a federal judge refused to issue an order sought by NTEU and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association that would have temporarily required the government to pay federal employees during the shutdown. The unions have also sought a preliminary injunction, and a hearing on that request is scheduled for Jan. 31. --Updated at 4:06 p.m.