DOGE’s Targets
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Authored by Jacob Burg via The Epoch Times,
As the second Trump administration nears the end of its first three weeks leading the federal government, Elon Musk’s advisory commission, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has deployed teams within multiple agencies to use technology to cut costs and streamline processes.
Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump offers his hand to Tesla founder Elon Musk back stage during a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show grounds, in Butler, Pa., on Oct. 5, 2024. Musk and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy will head Trump's new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Moving at breakneck speed as President Donald Trump shakes up the executive branch, Musk’s engineers and advisers have accessed information technology (IT) systems in several federal departments.
Anonymously sourced reports, not yet independently verified by The Epoch Times, allege DOGE is probing several other agencies, and groups are filing lawsuits to bar Musk’s advisers from accessing those departments’ computer systems.
DOGE’s actions, which Musk says are aimed at reducing government spending and waste, have spurred a backlash from some Democratic lawmakers who describe it as a breach of congressional oversight by an unelected “special government employee.”
Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) cited cybersecurity concerns if DOGE is connecting to federal databases with “their own unvetted commercial servers.”
This week, during a House Oversight Committee on “Reducing Waste in Government,” Rep. James Comer (R-K.Y.) defended Musk’s unprecedented role in the executive branch, saying “real innovation isn’t clean and tidy.”
President Donald Trump defended DOGE’s access to federal data systems on Friday, adding that the Pentagon and the Department of Education are next.
“We’re going to be looking at tremendous amounts of money … being spent on things that bear no relationship to anything and have no value,” Trump said.
“I’m very proud of the job that this group of young people … [are] doing. They’re doing it at my insistence. It would be a lot easier not to do it, but we have to take some of these things apart to find the corruption.”
So far, the DOGE team has accessed IT systems at agencies, including the Treasury Department, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the Department of Energy, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), while a coalition of labor unions has sued to block access at the U.S. Department of Labor.
Additionally, students in California are suing the Department of Education, alleging that DOGE staffers are accessing confidential student data.
The Epoch Times could not independently confirm other agencies—including the U.S. Office of Personnel Management and the U.S. Agency for International Development—where DOGE may have received access to internal systems or databases.
Treasury Department
The Treasury Department confirmed in a Feb. 4 letter to Congress that DOGE staff had been given “read-only” access to the agency’s nearly $6 trillion federal payments system.
According to the letter, Cloud Software Group CEO Tom Krause will work with the agency as a “special government employee” to review the Bureau of the Fiscal Service for operational efficiency and prevent abuse, fraud, and waste. The work will be done in conjunction with career Treasury officials.
On Feb. 5, the Justice Department wrote in a court filing that it would, for now, restrict DOGE’s access to Treasury Department payment systems.
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
DOGE was also granted access to systems and technology at CMS, the agency said on Feb. 5. CMS will be in direct collaboration with DOGE while two senior agency staffers will direct the effort.
CMS, which is within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, oversees the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Medicare is a health insurance plan for older and disabled Americans, while Medicaid covers low-income enrollees.
While DOGE has said it wants to cut $2 trillion in government spending, the goal would likely be difficult to reach without reducing spending on health and social assistance programs.
Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and the Affordable Care Act marketplace health insurance subsidies made up 24 percent of the 2024 federal budget, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
However, Trump told reporters last week that there would be no impacts on Medicare, Medicaid, or Social Security unless his administration finds waste or abuse.
“The people won’t be affected,” Trump said, referring to recipients of those benefits.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
DOGE has also been granted access to NOAA’s IT systems through the Department of Commerce, according to several Democratic lawmakers.
“Elon Musk and his DOGE hackers are ransacking their way through the federal government … and gutting programs people depend on,” Reps. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) and Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), two of the lawmakers confirming the development, wrote in a joint statement.
NOAA is the “principal federal agency tasked with understanding and predicting changes in climate, weather, oceans, and coasts,” according to the Congressional Research Service.
Huffman and Lofgren noted that Americans rely on NOAA’s services “day in and day out” for warnings on “incoming severe weather, such as hurricanes, wildfires, and tornadoes.”
The NOAA is home to the National Weather Service and National Hurricane Center, two critical tools for weather forecasting and warning residents in vulnerable areas about approaching storms.
Department of Energy
Energy Secretary Chris Wright confirmed to CNBC on Feb. 7 that DOGE staffers were actively probing the U.S. Department of Energy but denied allegations that Musk’s people had access to U.S. nuclear secrets.
“I’ve heard these rumors. They’re like seeing our nuclear secrets. None of that is true at all,” Wright told CNBC’s Brian Sullivan.
The Department of Energy manages the nation’s nuclear infrastructure and implements U.S. energy policy. The agency also funds scientific research into energy, while one of its central responsibilities is maintaining and modernizing the U.S. nuclear stockpile.
Other Developments
A coalition of labor unions sued the U.S. Department of Labor, its acting secretary, Vince Micone, and Musk on Feb. 5, alleging that DOGE plans to illegally access the agency’s computer data.
The coalition also alleges that DOGE intends to “fire any employee who protects the integrity of those systems” and that Musk would have access to information on Labor Department investigations into his business dealings.
On Feb. 5, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said Musk would stay out of matters where he has conflicts of interest.
The University of California Student Association sued the U.S. Department of Education on Feb. 7, alleging that DOGE staffers are illegally accessing confidential student data.
The lawsuit, filed in Washington federal court, accuses DOGE of violating federal privacy laws by accessing Education Department computer systems containing student financial aid information.
DOGE did not respond to a request for comment by publication time.
Andrew Moran, Stacy Robinson, Zachary Stieber, and Reuters contributed to this report.
