February 18, 2025

Warren, Wyden Sound Alarm Over DOGE Access to Legally-Protected Taxpayer Data

Identifying potential violations of strict data protection laws, senators demand information on DOGE’s infiltration of IRS systems

Text of Letter (PDF)

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, wrote to acting IRS Commissioner Douglas O’Donnell warning that personnel affiliated with Elon Musk infiltrating the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) systems could be in violation of strict taxpayer data protection laws that prohibit both the improper disclosure and inspection of Americans’ tax returns. The senators demanded copies of any memorandum granting IRS system access to any Musk-affiliated personnel, as well as justifications and records related to the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) inspections of taxpayer data. The senators also sought to learn whether DOGE personnel have accessed or interfered with any work by the IRS Criminal Investigation division or moved any IRS data, including tax return information, from IRS systems to external servers or recipients.  

According to public reports, the White House is pressuring the IRS to agree to give software engineers working for Elon Musk at DOGE broad access to IRS systems, property, and datasets which include the private tax return information of hundreds of millions of American citizens and businesses. Potential access includes the IRS’ Integrated Data Retrieval System (IDRS), which would give Elon Musk and his associates access to private bank records and other confidential, legally protected information belonging to American taxpayers. 

“Even if individuals affiliated with DOGE are employed by Treasury, their access to tax information may not be legal,” wrote the senators. “For inspection of taxpayer information to be lawful, it must be made to or by an authorized person for an authorized purpose … To date, no information on DOGE employees or any others executing orders on Musk’s behalf have revealed any clear, stated purpose as to why they need access to return information, whether they have followed all required laws to gain access to IRS systems, and what steps the IRS has taken to ensure that inspection of tax return is contained to authorized personnel and not disclosed to any unauthorized parties.” 

“No executive order requiring agency heads to provide DOGE personnel access to IRS records or information technology systems supersedes the federal tax code,” the lawmakers continued. “Software engineers working for Musk seeking to gain access to tax return information have no right to hoover up taxpayer data and send that data back to any other part of the federal government and may be breaking the law if they are doing so.” 

“We are also extremely concerned that DOGE personnel meddling with IRS systems in the middle of tax filing season could, inadvertently or otherwise, cause breakdowns that may delay the issuance of tax refunds indefinitely. Any delay in refunds could be financially devastating to millions of Americans who plan their budgets around timely refunds every spring,” the senators concluded. 

The senators requested the IRS provide clarity, including copies of memorandums, on the decision to grant Musk and DOGE access to IRS systems and a list of specific people who would have access to these systems, by February 21, 2025. 

Senator Warren’s leadership has been instrumental in Democrats’ fight against Elon Musk’s takeover of government agencies:  

  • On February 14, 2025, the Treasury and federal government watchdogs announced, following pressure from Sen. Warren, that they would open an investigation into Treasury Secretary Bessent granting Elon Musk and DOGE access to critical government payment systems.  
  • On February 13, 2025, after reports revealed Elon Musk would take advantage of loopholes in federal ethics laws to avoid publicly disclosing his financial conflicts of interest, Sen. Warren led several Democrats in a letter demanding Musk publicly reveal how he could stand to profit from his role in the Trump administration. 
  • On February 10, 2025, following Elon Musk and Project 2025 architect Russ Vought attempting to shut down the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Sen. Warren spoke at the CFPB headquarters and vowed to fight back, saying “Congress built (the CFPB), and no one other than Congress — not Donald Trump, not Elon Musk, no one – can fire the financial cops.
  • On February 7, 2025, following Elon Musk and DOGE forcing their way into the Department of Education, Senator Elizabeth Warren and Minority Leader Schumer (D-N.Y.) led a coalition of Democrats in demanding the Department of Education launch an investigation into Musk and DOGE’s access to federal student loan data.  
  • On February 5, 2025, as part of Senate Democrats 30-hour hold on Russ Vought’s nomination for Director of the Office of Management and Budget, Senator Elizabeth Warren spoke out against the serious consequences of Mr. Vought’s leadership and underscored the danger of Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s power grab. 
  • On February 5, 2025, Senator Elizabeth Warren joined Democrats’ demand for the Senate Committees on Finance and Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs to hold hearings into how Elon Musk and DOGe gained access to systems that control payments to millions of American citizens. 
  • On February 4, 2025, following Treasury Secretary Bessent’s inadequate response to his role in Musk and DOGE accessing critical government payment systems, Senator Elizabeth Warren pressed him to provide the American public with answers. 
  • On February 4, 2025, Senator Elizabeth Warren called on the Government Accountability Office to urgently investigate Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s decision to grant access to sensitive government payment systems to Elon Musk and other DOGE employees. 
  • On February 4, 2025, at a rally in front of the Department of the Treasury, Senator Elizabeth Warren called Elon Musk’s government power grab an attempt to “seiz(e) power away from the American people.” 
  • On February 3, 2025, at a press conference with Senate Democrats, Senator Elizabeth Warren sounded the alarm on the danger of Elon Musk having access to millions of Americans’ sensitive personal information, calling it an attempt to “take over this government to make it work better for themselves and worse for everyone else.” 
  • On February 3, 2025, Senator Elizabeth Warren blasted Secretary Bessent for allowing Musk and DOGE access to the critical Treasury systems and the sensitive personal information in them. 

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