Since President Trump’s inauguration, the so-called “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) has sought to access critical data from across the government, including data that contains information regarding Americans.

This sweeping campaign to access highly sensitive data has reached the IRS, which houses some of the nation’s most sensitive information systems and where special protections govern access to this information. Unfettered access, without regard to statutory privacy protections, will mean DOGE will have access to confidential business information, IRS investigations, social security numbers, individuals’ financial well-being, bank account information and more. DOGE will even have access to tax records belonging to Elon Musk’s business competitors, meaning Mr. Musk will have something that “no other business owner on the planet has access to” regarding their competitors, according to the suit, which also highlights the administration’s stated interest in data about those who have taken the child tax credit. 

Center for Taxpayer Rights, Main Street Alliance, the National Federation of Federal Employees, and Communications Workers of America are represented by Democracy Forward, which filed an emergency suit in federal court to stop Elon Musk’s DOGE from unlawfully accessing confidential and sensitive taxpayer data from the IRS. The lawsuit asks the court to halt DOGE’s unfettered and lawless access to personal data at levels that far exceed those experienced since Watergate and endanger the privacy of hundreds of millions of Americans