DOGE Keeps Gaining Access to Sensitive Data

Friday, July 11, 2025

A staffer from the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, recently got high-level access to view and change the contents of a payments system that controls tens of billions of dollars in government payments and loans to farmers and ranchers across the United States, according to internal access logs reviewed by NPR.

Posted by LampLighter at 04:30 PM | 3 COMMENTS | permalink

NEW from me: DOGE keeps gaining access to sensitive data. Now, it can cut off billions to farmers. www.npr.org/2025/07/10/n ...

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-- Jenna McLaughlin (@jennamclaughlin.bsky.social) Jul 10, 2025 at 9:02 AM

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More from the article ...

... "When we talk about farm loan application records, there is no more personal information anywhere than in that database," Scott Marlow, a former senior official in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, told NPR. "The farmer's entire financial life and the life of their kids and their family, every time they've missed a payment, every time they've had a hard time, every time they've gotten in financial trouble -- it's there."

With DOGE's initial de facto leader, Elon Musk, engaged in an on-again, off-again feud with the president and no longer a constant presence in the White House, some of DOGE's work has faded from view. But DOGE very much continues in Musk's absence. In some cases, including at the USDA, the team's access appears to have only deepened in recent months. Indeed, sources across government agencies who spoke to NPR say the impacts of DOGE's plans and cuts have only just begun to play out. ...

#1 | Posted by LampLighter at 2025-07-11 12:36 PM

Previously ...

Treasury: DOGE will have read-only' access to federal payment systems (Februaru 4, 2025)
thehill.com

... After people working for Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) reportedly sought to gain access to a sensitive federal payment system, the Treasury Department is saying that a review of the system is underway and that staff members will have "read-only" access to the information.

Staff, working with a Treasury employee named as Tom Krause, will have access to payment system data, a letter from an unnamed Treasury official sent out Tuesday reads.

The letter describes Krause as "a longtime technology executive" with "experience in building companies and managing balance sheets" and notes that he will be given a top-secret security clearance.

"Treasury staff members working with Tom Krause, a Treasury employee, will have read-only access to the coded data of the Fiscal Service's payment systems in order to continue this operational efficiency assessment," the letter says. ...

[emphasis mine]