Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency is seeking access to IRS systems that hold heavily guarded personal taxpayer data, people familiar with the plans told multiple media outlets.
The department, referred to as DOGE, is reportedly pressuring the IRS to give it access to several programs, including the Integrated Data Retrieval System, or IDRS, which allows IRS employees to view specific taxpayer accounts showing Americans’ bank information, tax returns, Social Security numbers, addresses and employment information.
CNN, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post all reported on details of the plans.
When contacted for comment about the effort from these outlets, White House deputy press secretary Harrison Fields said, “Waste, fraud, and abuse have been deeply entrenched in our broken system for far too long. It takes direct access to the system to identify and fix it. DOGE will continue to shine a light on the fraud they uncover as the American people deserve to know what their government has been spending their hard earned tax dollars on.”
A copy of the memorandum DOGE sent the IRS, obtained by the Post, revealed plans that DOGE software engineer Gavin Kliger is set to work at the IRS for 120 days. A source familiar with the plans told CNN that Kliger is expected to be granted access to the system “imminently.”
Kliger, who’s 25, has boosted white supremacists and misogynists online, Reuters reported earlier this month.
The IRS employee manual provides strict instructions on how employees may interact with the IDRS, saying the security system is “designed to provide protection for both the taxpayer and the IDRS user employee.”
“IDRS users are authorized to access only those accounts required to accomplish their official duties,” the manual says. “IDRS users must not access their own or spouse’s account, the account of a friend, relative or co-worker, or any account in which they have a personal or financial interest. IRS prohibits employees from accessing tax account information to satisfy personal curiosity or for fraudulent purposes.”
Employees who violate the protocol may be punished with prison time.
This marks the latest attempt by Musk’s DOGE department to gain access to sensitive Treasury Department information. Those efforts have been met with multiple legal challenges and court injunctions.
“As the richest man in the world, Elon Musk is not used to being told ‘no,’ but in our country, no one is above the law,” a statement from the Democratic attorneys general suing DOGE said earlier this month.
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President Donald Trump, who’s spoken about plans to “terminate” many IRS employees and send the agency’s law enforcement staff to work the border, plans to lay off thousands of probationary IRS workers in the middle of tax season, The Associated Press reported Saturday. The cuts could start as soon as this week.
The Senate has not yet confirmed former Republican congressman Billy Long, Trump’s pick to lead the IRS.