Representative Inspectors of the Human Resources Administration confirmed that independent offices are investigating whether “new threats” have emerged to confidential information as a result of Elon Musk's Doge operatives introducing rapid changes to protected government networks.
“OPM OIG [office of the inspector general] Deputy inspector Norbert Vint added in a letter to a Democrat dated March 7 that his office is not only legally necessary to scrutinise OPM's security protocols, but also based on “the development of risk.” The letter said the office would collapse certain requests issued last month by Democrats into “existing work” and at the same time launch a “new engagement” over potential risks at agencies related to computer systems accessed or modified by the US DOGE service.
Vint, whose predecessor was fired by Trump in January, is one of the half dozen sub-inspectors who Democrats urged on House Committee and House Committee on Government Reform last month, and will look into reports on Doge's efforts to access a wide range of records systems that host the government's most sensitive data, including the government's most sensitive data.
“We are deeply concerned that access to unauthorized systems can occur across the federal government and pose a major threat to the personal privacy of all Americans and the national security of our country,” Gerald Connolly, a ranking Democrat on the Observation Committee, wrote in a letter on February 6th.
In addition to the OPM, Democrats are seeking similar security assessments at five other agencies, including the Treasury Department, the General Services Bureau, the Small Business Administration, the US Agency for International Development and the Department of Education. But Vint is the only watchdog in any of the named institutions that have responded so far, a committee spokesman told Wired.
While in the House and Senate minorities, Democrats have little authority to effectively oversee things outside of formal hearings. This must be convened by Republicans. During his first term, Trump's Justice Department issued guidance notifying executives that he had zero obligation to answer questions from Democrats.
Congressional Republicans have promised little formal oversight of Doge's work, and instead choose a billionaire and backchannel for the impact of his interpersonal crusades.
The executive order, signed by the president on his first day in office, directed federal agencies to provide mask operatives with “full and quick access” to all uncategorized records systems to achieve a government-wide purging of “fraud, wasteful and abuse.” However, it soon became clear that Doge staff, many of them, young engineers with direct connections to Musk's own business, have paid little attention to key privacy safeguards. For example, avoid the mandatory assessment of new technologies installed on protected government networks.
“Some of the concerns you have expressed in the letter about issues that OPM OIG evaluates as part of OPM's annual review of IT and Financial Systems. We plan to incorporate these concerns into these existing projects,” wrote Vint in the March 7 letter. “We have also launched an engagement to assess the risks associated with OPM's new amendment information system. Ultimately, we believe our new engagement will broadly address many of your questions related to the integrity of the OPM system.”
