A potentially larger issue is DOGE’s access to the Treasury Department’s payment system because it processes the Social Security payments for more than 70 million people and contains the Social Security numbers of most Americans.
DOGE recently sparked an outcry from some taxpayers, Democratic lawmakers and government watchdogs after it gained access to the Treasury Department’s payment system, which is handled by a little-known unit called the Bureau of the Fiscal Service.
Musk and his team “now have access to the personal information of every Social Security beneficiary — and the ability to stop payments for any federal programs they dislike,” Max Richtman, CEO of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, an advocacy group for the programs, said on Feb. 3.
The Treasury says DOGE has been given “read only” access to its payment system.
A federal judge on Feb. 7 also was scheduled to consider whether to block DOGE from accessing computer systems at the Labor Department. A group of labor unions has filed suit to deny DOGE employees entry to those systems, which the plaintiffs allege contain sensitive information about federal employees, including which workers has investigated Musk’s companies.
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