House Democrats push security probe of Elon Musk’s team

Audio By Carbonatix

Enlarge

By Rachael Levy

(Reuters) – Democrats on the U.S. House oversight committee on Thursday called for an investigation of potential national security threats posed by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.

In a letter on Thursday, the lawmakers urged deputy inspectors general at several federal agencies to investigate potential national security breaches involving Musk’s team. Those agencies include the U.S. Treasury, the Office of Personnel Management, the Department of Education, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the General Services Administration and the Small Business Administration.

The Trump administration put USAID staff on leave this week, and Musk has said he is working to shut down the agency, which he called “beyond repair.” The lawmakers alleged that unauthorized individuals accessed systems and classified data at USAID and OPM. Musk’s team has also accessed U.S. payment systems holding personal data for millions of Americans, according to the lawmakers.

“We are deeply concerned that unauthorized system access could be occurring across the federal government and could pose a major threat to the personal privacy of all Americans and to the national security of our nation,” the lawmakers wrote.

They added: “Although Elon Musk appears to have been granted the status of ‘Special Government Employee’, there is no evidence that he, or any of his associates working under the ‘DOGE team’ moniker are entitled to access our government systems, nor is there any evidence that they have undergone the proper vetting to ensure the security of taxpayer and government data.”

Musk didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

A White House official told Reuters on Wednesday that Musk and his engineers have appropriate security clearances and can see payment data but do not have the power to change it.

Musk and his team are operating in “full compliance with federal law, appropriate security clearances, and as employees of the relevant agencies, not as outside advisors or entities,” the White House official said.

The committee, where Representative Gerald Connolly of Virginia serves as the top Democrat, sent the letter primarily to deputy inspectors general, rather than inspectors general themselves, because the Trump administration fired them about two weeks ago.

The administration fired 17 independent watchdogs in what critics called a late-night purge that could clear the way for Trump loyalists, a move that the president defended. Included on the lawmakers’ letter is USAID’s inspector general, Paul Martin, who remains in his position.

(This story has been corrected to clarify that Democrats are on the committee but not in charge in paragraph 1, and to say that Connolly is the top Democrat on the committee in paragraph 7)

(Reporting by Rachael Levy in Washington; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)