Should Trump follow through and let go of thousands of IRS staffers—or transfer them to other roles—during his presidency, the agency could see its capacity to collect taxes and ensure that individuals and corporations comply with tax laws significantly reduced. That could possibly lead to less enforcement, higher rates of tax evasion and less revenue for the federal government.

President Donald Trump has issued an executive order freezing the hiring of new federal employees, including the planned addition of 86,000 IRS agents under a program initiated by former President Joe Biden. The president also suggested that IRS agents, who are armed, might better serve the nation by being deployed to the U.S.-Mexico border.

“On day one, I immediately halted the hiring of any new IRS agents,” Trump told supporters, “You know … they hired, or tried to hire, 88,000 new workers to go after you, and we’re in the process of developing a plan to either terminate all of them or maybe we’ll move them to the border. I think we’re gonna move them to the border. Well, they’re allowed to carry guns, you know they’re so strong on guns. But these people are allowed to carry guns, so we’ll probably move them to the border.”