Wyden, Warren Sound Alarm Over DOGE Access to Legally-Protected Taxpayer Data, Trump Weaponization of IRS Against American Citizens and Businesses
Identifying Potential Violations of Strict Taxpayer Privacy and Data Protection Laws, Senators Demand Information on DOGE Infiltration of IRS Systems
Washington, D.C. – Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., today warned that personnel affiliated with Elon Musk infiltrating IRS systems that contain the private tax records of hundreds of millions of Americans may be in violation of strict taxpayer privacy and data protection laws that prohibit the improper disclosure and inspection of Americans’ tax returns. In a letter to acting IRS Commissioner Douglas O’Donnell, the senators demanded copies of any memorandum granting IRS system access to any Musk-affiliated personnel, as well as justifications and documents pertaining to DOGE efforts to inspect tax returns and private bank records. 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 or other executive branch personnel.
“According to public reports, the White House is pressuring the IRS to agree to a memorandum of understanding which would 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. It appears the MOU proposes giving DOGE team members access to the IRS Integrated Data Retrieval System (“IDRS”), raising serious concerns that Elon Musk and his associates are seeking to weaponize government databases containing private bank records and other confidential information to target American citizens and businesses as part of a political agenda.
“Even if individuals affiliated with DOGE are employed by Treasury, their access to tax information may not be legal. 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 returns and other taxpayer information 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. 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. DOGE engineers also have no legal right to snoop around and inspect the tax returns of millions of American citizens unless expressly permitted under Section 6103.
“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 full letter sent this morning to acting IRS Commissioner Douglas O’Donnell is available here.
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