(NewsNation) — Despite its name, Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency group is not a formal part of the federal government — it’s an outside commission set up to advise President Trump on areas where money can be saved.
Under an executive order, Trump created DOGE, which he said would “slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures” and restructure federal agencies.
Does DOGE have your personal information?
Trump originally tapped Musk and Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to co-lead DOGE after his reelection last year.
Since then, Ramaswamy left DOGE.
Here’s an updated list of all the federal agencies DOGE has gained access to.
What does DOGE have access to?
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
DOGE agents have gained access to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the agency confirmed in February.
It’s unclear which systems DOGE had access to and whether any sensitive medical information was part of the efforts.
The Wall Street Journal reported that DOGE aides had been granted access to key payment and contract systems. CMS says DOGE doesn’t have full access and is just hunting for fraud, Politico reported.
Commerce Department
At least one DOGE agent has been to the Commerce Department’s Maryland headquarters, where they gained access to the agency’s IT systems, including accessing National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data, New York Magazine reported.
Democratic lawmakers accused DOGE of improperly inserting itself into the NOAA.
In a joint statement, California Democratic Reps Zoe Lofgren and Jared Huffman said Musk’s cost-cutting group isaccessing NOAA’s computer systems. NOAA is charged with forecasting weather, monitoring atmospheric conditions and mapping the seas, among other things.
No, DOGE did not find Pentagon spent $600 million on sushi
Education Department
DOGE cut $900 million from a federal research agency that tracks American students’ academic progress after claiming there’s no need for much of its work.
It’s unclear to what degree the Education Department’s Institute of Education Sciences will continue to exist after Musk’s team slashed scores of contracts. Industry groups said at least 169 contracts were suddenly terminated Monday, accounting for much of the institute’s work.
Additionally, Senate Democrats are concerned DOGE may have illegally accessed federal student loan data, but that doesn’t mean borrowers will see their loans forgiven, as some on TikTok have claimed.
The Washington Post reported that DOGE is using AI software to target cuts within the Department of Education, as well, indicating that sensitive information including internal financial information has been fed into a software system to analyze spending.
Federal Aviation Administration
Musk said DOGE will make “rapid safety upgrades” to the air traffic control systems with the Federal Aviation Administration.
“With the support of President @realDonaldTrump, the @DOGE team will aim to make rapid safety upgrades to the air traffic control system,” Musk wrote on the social platform X. “The FAA’s primary aircraft safety notification system failed for several hours!” he added, likely referring to an outage of the FAA’s Notice to Air Mission system in February.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy then said on X that he “talked to the DOGE team” and “they are going to plug in to help upgrade our aviation system.”
It remains unclear if Musk and DOGE have actually gained access to FAA systems.
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Treasury Department
DOGE got access to sensitive Treasury data, including Social Security systems, The Associated Press reported.
The news came after Treasury acting Deputy Secretary David Lebryk resigned from his position after more than 30 years of service. Lebryk resigned his position after Musk and his DOGE organization requested access to sensitive Treasury data.
Musk on Saturday responded to a post on his social media platform X about the departure of Lebryk: “The @DOGE team discovered, among other things, that payment approval officers at Treasury were instructed always to approve payments, even to known fraudulent or terrorist groups. They literally never denied a payment in their entire career. Not even once.”
He did not provide proof of this claim.
US Agency for International Development
The future of the U.S. Agency for International Development continues to remain uncertain as DOGE has taken control of the agency’s money, locked out workers, accessed classified information and removed leadership.
On Friday, a federal judge dealt Trump and Musk their first big setback in their dismantling of USAID, ordering a temporary halt to plans to pull thousands of agency staffers off the job.
Besides Elon Musk, who else is running DOGE?
U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee, also agreed to block an order that would have given the thousands of overseas USAID workers the administration wanted to place on abrupt administrative leave just 30 days to move families and households back to the U.S. at government expense.
According to current and former USAID officials, all USAID humanitarian work around the world had been stopped, ABC News reported.
Veterans Affairs
Veterans Affairs leaders confirmed they are working with DOGE but say veterans’ personal info remains secure, Military Times reported.
They’re reportedly working on ways to reform agency operations.
Labor unions sue to block DOGE access to sensitive information
On Monday, a coalition of labor unions filed a lawsuit asking a federal court to stop Musk’s team from accessing private data at the Education Department, the Treasury Department and the Office of Personnel Management.
Judge adjusts ruling blocking Musk, DOGE from Treasury Department payment systems
The suit, led by the American Federation of Teachers, alleges the Trump administration violated federal privacy laws when it gave DOGE access to systems with personal information on tens of millions of Americans without their consent. It was filed in federal court in Maryland.
It’s the latest in a flurry of legal challenges to Musk’s growing influence over federal agencies he has promised to slash or dismantle. A federal judge in New York blocked Musk’s team from a Treasury Department system Saturday after 19 Democratic attorneys general sued over privacy concerns.
NewsNation affiliate “The Hill,” The Associated Press, and NewsNation digital reporter Safia Samee Ali contributed to this report.
