DOGE worker gets IRS data while hundreds got before

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A staffing move by the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency has ignited controversy as a software engineer prepares to gain access to sensitive IRS data.

According to CNN’s Monday report, DOGE software engineer Gavin Kliger will serve a 120-day stint at the IRS as a senior adviser to the acting commissioner, with access to the agency’s internal data systems.

Addressing the appointment, White House deputy press secretary Harrison Fields stated, “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.” Fields further emphasized that “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.”

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CNN expressed significant concerns about Kliger’s potential access to confidential information, including Social Security numbers, banking details, and tax records.

Democratic Senators Ron Wyden and Elizabeth Warren responded by demanding transparency, penning a letter requesting the acting commissioner to “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.”

The senators’ letter raised legal concerns, noting that “As you are aware, tax returns and return information are subject to strong legal privacy protections,” and suggesting that “allowing DOGE officials sweeping access these systems may be in violation of these statutes.”

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This scrutiny of DOGE staffers’ access to federal data comes despite a Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration report revealing that, as of September 2023, 919 individuals already had access to unmasked IRS data, including approximately 20 researchers and student volunteers.

The stark contrast between the media’s current outrage and their previous silence during the Biden administration’s oversight of sensitive data access suggests a politically motivated response. The heightened concern appears to coincide with the Trump administration’s efforts to streamline government operations.

Despite the vocal opposition from Democratic senators and media outlets like CNN, the administration’s efficiency initiatives show no signs of slowing down, leaving critics with diminishing options to impede these reforms.