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(by Aislinn Murphy, Fox Business) – A representative for the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) on Thursday said that the IRS’ modernization program was significantly over budget and behind schedule.
Levels CEO and U.S. Treasury special advisor Sam Corcas told host Laura Ingraham on “The Ingraham Angle” that he has been brought in by President Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s DOGE to “look at the IRS modernization program in particular, as well as the operations and maintenance budget.”
“The IRS has some pretty legacy infrastructure,” he explained about the modernization program. [“legacy infrastructure” = outdated systems, hardware, and technologies that, while once cutting-edge, are now considered old and inefficient, yet still used] “It’s actually very similar to what banks have been using. It’s old mainframes running COBOL and Assembly. And the challenge has been, how do we migrate that to a modern system? Virtually every bank has already done this, but we’re still using a lot of those same systems, and typically in industry, it takes a few years, maybe a few hundred million dollars, and we’re now 35 years into this program.”
Corcas [said] the “huge” IRS modernization program was 30 years behind schedule and “already $15 billion over budget.” It was supposed to be delivered in 1996, he said.
He did, however, express optimism about modernizing the IRS, saying the agency has “quite a lot of software talent,” but they “haven’t been in a position to be empowered to make those decisions.”
According to Corcas, the IRS processes “about the same amount of data” as a mid-sized bank, but uses significantly more people and resources to do it.
A midsize bank “will have somewhere between one and 200 people in IT, and it will have an operations and maintenance budget in the $20 million a year range,” Corcas told Ingraham. Meanwhile, he said the IRS employs 8,000 people in IT and “our operations and maintenance budget is $3.5 billion a year.”
“I don’t really know why yet, but I will tell you that 80% of that budget goes to contractors and licenses,” he added.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, appearing with Corcas on “The Ingraham Angle,” called IRS consultants and contractors a “problem,” likening them to boa constrictors that have “constricted themselves around our government.”
Corcas said the “main focus” was “how do we turn this around,” noting the IRS was “way beyond any reasonable cost for what you would expect of a private company” for such a modernization program.
Roughly $1.5 billion has been stripped from the IRS modernization budget so far, he told Ingraham.
Overall, DOGE is working to significantly pare back spending and boost efficiency across the federal government, with a goal of reducing spending by $2 trillion.
It [listed] total estimated savings of $115 billion on its website as of Friday. That total, DOGE [noted], equated to $714.29 per taxpayer.
Last month, DOGE sought tips from the public about waste, fraud and abuse at numerous federal agencies by setting up DOGE affiliate social media accounts.
Trump used an executive order on the day he became the 47th president to officially establish DOGE. The Musk-led initiative is expected to finish its cost-cutting efforts by early July 2026.
Eric Revell contributed to this report. Published at Fox Business on March 21. Reprinted here for educational purposes only. May not be reproduced on other websites without permission.
Questions
NOTE: Before answering the questions, watch the interview with Sam Corcas and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent under “Resources” below.
1. The first paragraph of a news article should answer the questions who, what, where and when. (In this article, 1st and 2nd paragraphs). List the who, what, where and when of this news item. (NOTE: The remainder of a news article provides details on the why and/or how.)
2. a) Who is Sam Corcas?
b) What has he joined the DOGE team to do?
c) How long has he committed to work on the project? (see end of video)
d) Laura Ingram asks Corcas: What is your area of expertise that informs your ability to do this review? How does he respond?
3. What challenge do Mr. Corcas and the DOGE team face at the IRS?
4. a) When was the modernization of the IRS computer system started? When was it supposed to be completed?
(See video around 2:15)
b) What is your reaction to this information?
5. a) How does the IRS IT operations and maintenance budget compare to that of a midsize bank?
b) What does the majority of the budget go to in the IRS IT?
6. Why does Mr. Corcas say he is optimistic about being able to successfully modernize the IRS?
7. Laura Ingraham asked Corcas, “What has been the biggest surprise that you found at Department of Treasury?” What is his response?
8. What is the overall purpose of the DOGE team’s work?
9. Many news reports are negative toward the work of DOGE – or news outlets ignore the positive work they are doing and especially ignore the fact that there is waste, fraud and abuse of taxpayer funds.
Toward the end of the interview, Secretary Bessent explains,
“I wanted the American people to meet Sam. We’re going to bring some more DOGE people forward to hear their stories, see what’s being done because the entrenched interests, the consultants, the Democrats, mainstream media – they just want to blow this project [DOGE] out of the water. It’s important because this is the office of government efficiency – not elimination – not extinction.
Sam and his crew are making it more efficient to work for the American people. So what’s wrong with it working better, cheaper, faster – and with more privacy?
a) Why do you think the Democrats in Congress and many in the news media generally do not support the work of DOGE?
b) Do you support President Trump’s efforts through the DOGE team and federal agency heads/secretaries and to make our government more efficient? Explain your answer.
10. Based on the interview with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and DOGE software expert Sam Corcas, how confidant are you that the DOGE team will be successful in improving the IRS?
OPTIONAL: Ask a parent to watch the video and answer the same question.
Resources
Watch a March 21, 2025 interview with DOGE team member Sam Corcos and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent:
Daily “Answers” emails are provided for Daily News Articles, Tuesday’s World Events and Friday’s News Quiz.
