Lawmakers continue to probe whether Elon Musk and his DOGE team are breaching security and privacy protocols meant to protect sensitive federal data.
In a Feb. 6 letter to six agency inspectors general, Democrats on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform point to multiple media reports about Musk and his team from the newly renamed U.S. DOGE Service accessing Treasury payment data, Social Security Administration information and other sensitive data across federal networks.
“These reports raise serious questions about the security protocols in place to safeguard sensitive government information and the potential for unauthorized access and misuse by private citizens without requisite clearance or any legitimate reason to access this information,” they wrote. “Given the scope of these concerns, we strongly encourage you to coordinate across the inspector general community to address these potential threats to national security.”
The letter asks the IG’s to investigate the specific networks and information that Musk and his team have accessed, as well as the stated justification and legal authority for that access. It also raises questions about the risks to “national security and the privacy of American citizens.”
The letter went to the office of inspector general at six agencies: the Treasury Department, the Office of Personnel Management, the General Services Administration, the Small Business Administration, the Education Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development.
The letter is addressed to the deputy inspectors general at five of the six agencies, after President Donald Trump fired the head IGs of 17 agencies late last month.
“Offices of Inspectors General are more important than ever,” the lawmakers wrote. “Congress and the American people rely on you to remain dogged and steadfast in your pursuit of truth without regard to political affiliation. As such, we urge you to fulfill your duties as non-partisan watchdogs, appropriately issue management alerts as relevant, and assess the potential security breaches across the federal government due to Mr. Musk and his teams’ actions.”
A spokeswoman for the Education Department OIG said the office had received the letter, but declined to comment further. A spokeswoman for the GSA’s OIG said the office is “reviewing the letter carefully, as we do with all congressional requests sent to us.” Public affairs offices for the other OIG’s listed on the letter did not initially respond by press time on Feb. 7.
Separately, House Homeland Security Committee Ranking Member Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and fellow Democrats on the committee also wrote to the Office of Management and Budget’s acting director on Wednesday about Musk’s access to sensitive data on federal employees.
They say OMB has the statutory obligation to ensure Musk complies with security and privacy laws, including the Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014, commonly known as FISMA.
“We know that China and other foreign adversaries are regularly seeking to breach Federal agency networks to gather exploitable information about government officials, American citizens, and U.S. businesses,” the lawmakers wrote. “That is why the U.S. government has implemented numerous policies and programs to secure sensitive data. Elon Musk and his DOGE associates are not exempt from those policies.”
And earlier this week, Senate Democrats raised similar concerns that DOGE’s access to classified data posed “unprecedented risks to national and economic security” in a letter to White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles.
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