A chorus of analysts and commentators has voiced opposition to Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) being granted access to sensitive data from the Treasury Department.
This task force, spearheaded by the billionaire entrepreneur, aims to curtail wasteful federal spending. However, its recent acquisition of access to critical systems, including Social Security and Medicare payment data, has sparked significant concern.
According to Newsweek, the Associated Press reported that this development followed the resignation of David Lebryk, the acting Deputy Secretary of the Treasury, who stepped down after more than three decades of service. His departure reportedly stemmed from a conflict with Musk's associates over their attempts to access the data. Neither Lebryk nor representatives from DOGE have commented on these reports.
Critics of DOGE's newfound access include Olga Lautman, a researcher affiliated with the Institute for European Integrity and the Center for European Policy Analysis. In a thread on X, formerly known as Twitter, she expressed alarm, stating, "I don't want to be an alarmist, but this is insanely dangerous. Elon Musk, an unelected billionaire with no oversight, has gained access to the federal government's payment system. And all of our data." Lautman elaborated in a Substack post, highlighting the potential for DOGE to monitor and possibly obstruct federal payments, such as Social Security checks and Medicare reimbursements, despite not being a legitimate government agency.
Echoing these concerns, Phumzile Van Damme, a tech and human rights fellow at Harvard University, took to X to describe the situation as a "new gold rush" for personal data. She warned, "Once, fortunes were built on gold and oil. Now, they're built on youyour clicks, searches, habits, and digital shadow. Data is a multi-trillion-dollar industry. Combined with your Social Security number, address, and more? That's the finest gold." Van Damme further cautioned about the implications of Musk's control over such a comprehensive dataset, suggesting it could influence political discourse, financial transactions, and even elections.
In response to Lebryk's resignation, Musk posted on X, asserting that the DOGE team uncovered instances where Treasury payment approval officers were instructed to approve payments indiscriminately, even to fraudulent or terrorist entities. "They literally never denied a payment in their entire career. Not even once," Musk claimed. This statement was shared alongside a post by conservative filmmaker Robby Starbuck, who questioned why career bureaucrats would resist an audit by Musk and DOGE, speculating about potential fraud and waste within the Treasury.
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