Elon Musk’s blitz through the US federal government has triggered a “constitutional emergency”, a senior Democrat has warned, demanding the launch of an impartial investigation into billionaire tycoon’s access to sensitive data.
Robert C “Bobby” Scott, ranking member of the House committee on education and workforce and the Democratic leader on the committee, sounded the alarm over a “void of oversight” as the so-called “department of government efficiency” (Doge), led by the world’s richest man, accesses information within a string of agencies including the Departments of Education, Labor, and Health and Human Services.
In a letter seen by the Guardian, Scott demanded that the Government Accountability Office, a nonpartisan federal watchdog agency, launch an immediate investigation into “interventions” by Musk and his team into the departments’ IT systems, the legality of such moves and what it means “for children and vulnerable workers”.
“This is a constitutional emergency,” he wrote. “Insofar as the Inspectors General of the Departments of Education, Labor, and Health and Human Services have been fired by President Trump, there is now a void of oversight for a very young and inexperienced team and their leader, the world’s richest man … as they gain dangerously broad powers.”
Scott calls for the agency to provide answers into the legality and impacts of Doge infiltrating private and sensitive data at these federal departments.
It comes after senior Democrats on the House oversight committee demanded an investigation into potential national security breaches by the unit.
Since Donald Trump took office for his second term, Musk and his staff have roiled government agencies in forcing access to servers and sensitive information, lacking congressional authority or oversight on their actions and prompting numerous lawsuits.
The letter noted public reports of the unit’s “infiltration” of Department of Education, which include private information of federal student aid recipients; the Department of Labor servers, which include sensitive information on workplace investigations and whistleblowers; and payment systems within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which include the personal health and financial information of millions of Americans.
On Thursday, the federal government reached an agreement with a judge to block the access of Doge to Department of Labor servers until the judge issues a ruling on a temporary restraining order on Friday. An immediate review “is still necessary”, wrote Scott, “given the uncertainty of any outcome in litigation”.
He asked the Government Accountability Office to assess whether the executive order the president used to formally establish Doge put in place “any controls” over its access classified information, or compliance with data protection standards. “Please use all authority at your disposal to undertake this review and complete it as quickly as possible.”
“The nation needs answers immediately about the scope of those powers; any laws, regulations, or other policies regarding access to these data and systems which may be implicated by DOGE’s infiltration; and the integrity of government programs on which schoolchildren and working families depend for their lives and livelihoods,” wrote Scott.
The Government Accountability Office confirmed that it had received the letter, but declined to comment further. The White House was contacted for comment.