The Doge team, led by tech mogul Elon Musk, is making significant inroads into various federal agencies, notably the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Gavin Kliger, a software engineer and staff member at the Office of Personnel Management, spearheads this initiative. He is set to work at the IRS for a period of 120 days, with an option to extend his tenure. This move comes as the IRS receives a request from the Doge team for access to a classified system containing sensitive personal financial records. The request has raised concerns regarding potential misuse and data breaches.
The aim of the Doge team is to modernize and synchronize systems across different departments, including USAid and the Department of Education. The IRS's current systems, many of which were built using computer coding languages from the 1960s, are among the oldest in use today. As such, they pose a significant vulnerability due to their outdated technology, making them susceptible to hackers. In 2019 alone, the US government spent approximately $90 billion on information technology, with most of that expenditure focused on maintaining these legacy systems.
Nineteen state attorneys general have taken legal action to block a policy initiated by the Trump administration. This policy allows political appointees and "special government employees" to access Treasury Department data. Meanwhile, Scott Bessent, the US Treasury Secretary, expressed his hopes for upgrading the technology at the IRS to address ongoing issues. The IRS is also preparing to lay off thousands of workers hired during the previous Biden administration.
The incursion of the Doge team into the IRS comes at a time when the agency is under scrutiny for its handling of taxpayer data. The IRS has experienced a history of data breaches and security issues, with numerous systems vulnerable to hacking. Harrison Fields, a White House spokesperson, highlighted these systemic challenges:
“Waste, fraud and abuse have been deeply entrenched in our broken system for far too long.”
He further emphasized the necessity for direct access to these systems:
“It takes direct access to the system to identify and fix it.”
Fields also underscored the administration's commitment to transparency:
“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.”
Scott Bessent echoed this sentiment by acknowledging the IRS's current shortcomings:
“I don’t think there’s anyone, anyone in the country, who thinks that they – that the IRS has achieved its potential in either of those three.”