The Department of Government Effectiveness (DOGE), headed by Elon Musk, has requested access to the US Internal Revenue Service's taxpayer data system. This could potentially give it access to confidential information, including social security numbers and tax returns. This was reported by The Verge.
DOGE also opened a special DOGE IRS account on X and asks citizens to report known cases of waste, fraud and abuse of office.
DOGE is attempting to gain access to the Integrated Data Retrieval System (IDRS), which contains personal information on millions of taxpayers, including bank account numbers, social security numbers, addresses, tax returns, and more. Access to the IDRS is strictly limited within the IRS, and improper use of this information is punishable by criminal penalties.
"Waste, fraud and abuse have been deeply entrenched in our broken system for far too long," commented White House Deputy Press Secretary Harrison Fields. "It takes direct access to the system to identify and fix it."
Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ron Wyden sent a letter to the head of the IRS demanding “immediately disclose to the Senate Committee on Finance the full extent of the potential access to IRS systems and data granted to DOGE team members so that the Committee can address any efforts by DOGE personnel to gain access to taxpayer records at the IRS, which may constitute criminal violations of federal privacy laws.”