On Monday, a team at IBM that is contracted to manage human resources data for more than 500,000 federal employees received an unusual request to provide “read-only” access for the HR records for all 14,000 employees of the General Services Administration, according to a source familiar with the contract.
The email was from IBM’s regular contact at the GSA, the agency that manages federal property. But the request was odd since the agency already had “read and write” access to the data.
The request and the questions it raised were one example of the suspicion and speculation in Washington as President Donald Trump and Elon Musk conduct an unprecedented effort to shrink the federal workforce and slash federal programs that is shrouded in secrecy.
Democrats have criticized Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency for failing to disclose the names of its staff members, its criteria for laying off certain government workers and its rationale for cutting programs. Which government data they are accessing remains not fully known.
As of Wednesday, NBC News has confirmed that DOGE officials have been active at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which oversees health care for more than 139 million people; the U.S. Agency for International Development; the Department of Veterans Affairs; and the U.S. Treasury.
A White House spokesperson did not directly answer a question about whether DOGE requested the human resources records of the 14,000 GSA employees from IBM.
“DOGE is fulfilling President Trump’s commitment to making government more accountable, efficient, and, most importantly, restoring proper stewardship of the American taxpayer’s hard-earned dollars,” the spokesperson said.
Six hours after NBC News asked the White House about the request for the GSA data, it was withdrawn, according to a source familiar with the contract.
Republicans have hailed DOGE. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters this week he was pleased with Musk. “I think he’s doing a very important service for the people in that he is digging into the details of how taxpayer dollars are being spent,” Johnson said. “That was a campaign promise that the president made, we all made, and Elon is a big part of this.”
DOGE’s plans at the GSA are unclear, but this week the commissioner of its Public Buildings Service wrote an email to staff members obtained by NBC News informing the workforce that the GSA “is going to be a substantially smaller organization in the future.”
Questions persist
More than two weeks after Trump signed a 660-word executive order that established DOGE, confusion about it persists.
The order mandated that DOGE teams, including a DOGE team lead, an HR staffer, an engineer and a lawyer, begin working in every agency to “commence a Software Modernization Initiative to improve the quality and efficiency of government-wide software, network infrastructure, and information technology.”
At the Defense Department on Thursday, officials had not responded to questions about who is on the Pentagon’s DOGE team.
Three federal employees said a lack of transparency about DOGE exists at their agencies. Another current employee who has been handling DOGE requests said Musk’s team is zeroing in on data: “It’s very focused on data; they want data.”
Jacqueline Simon, policy director for the American Federation of Government Employees, the union that represents more than 700,000 federal workers, said workers across the federal government have very little information about what DOGE is doing and who is doing it.
“We have no information on how many people have been hired for DOGE specifically,” Simon said.
Musk’s DOGE has bragged about its cuts at the GSA in posts online. On Tuesday, DOGE’s X account boasted about canceling contracts at the GSA. Last week, a DOGE post singled out how the leases for government office space were canceled and claimed millions in taxpayer funds were saved.
“The GSA terminated three leases of mostly empty office space, with tenants relocating to nearby buildings in the GSA portfolio,” the post said. “With savings of $1.6M, these are the first steps to right size the Federal real estate portfolio of more than 7,500 leases.”
The White House statement added: “Those leading this mission with Elon Musk are doing so in full compliance with federal law, appropriate security clearances, and as employees of the relevant agencies, not as outside advisors or entities. The ongoing operations of DOGE may be seen as disruptive by those entrenched in the federal bureaucracy, who resist change. While change can be uncomfortable, it is necessary and aligns with the mandate supported by more than 77 million American voters.”
Sensitive data
Simon, of the American Federation of Government Employees, said she doubts DOGE staff members have proper clearances to have access to sensitive government data.
“It seems impossible that any of the DOGE people underwent proper security or background checks,” she said. “There simply wouldn’t have been enough time to perform these checks.”
The White House spokesperson said concerns about the possible misuse of Social Security numbers, dates of birth and personnel records in human resources data viewed by DOGE were unnecessary. “They are not there to look at your Social Security number,” the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson declined to say how many employees DOGE had but said increasing its transparency was a goal of the White House.
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