Elon Musk's so-called DOGE group has been granted access to sensitive income data from the Department of Health and Human Services, according to a new report on Saturday.
Musk, the richest man in the world and Donald Trump's right hand man, now has access to "a sensitive child support database with troves of income data," according to the Washington Post, which says the decision overrode the objections of career employees.
"The government database — created to help enforce child support payments and overseen by the Administration for Children and Families, or ACF — contains substantial amounts of personal income data linked to nearly all U.S. workers," according to the report, which cites four people familiar with the matter.
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"An HHS official confirmed that DOGE received access to the system, saying that DOGE’s agents sought 'read-only access' to the system and were required 'to take all necessary trainings' before being granted permission to use it," according to the report.
This goes along with what DOGE has been trying to do in other instances, according to the report.
"DOGE has recently been trying to check personal tax records against federal benefits, grants and student loans, aiming to link together traditionally separated government systems in search of duplicative or wasteful payments," the article states. "The Internal Revenue Service’s career staff has resisted DOGE’s request for access to taxpayer records, which are protected by federal law, but the child support database could provide another way for DOGE to obtain similar information. That database is also legally protected, but now DOGE officials have obtained authorization to access it."
In announcing the story, Jeff Stein, chief economics reporter for The Washington Post, said, "The Department of Health and Human Services has granted Musk's DOGE access to a sensitive child support database with troves of income data, including that of most U.S. workers."
"Could be a backdoor to IRS data," Stein then added.