Musk’s DOGE Preparing to Audit IRS, Other Agencies After Court Win

Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) chief Elon Musk and his team have secured access to critical financial records from multiple federal agencies following a legal victory on Tuesday. Meanwhile, a DOGE team member is also set to receive data regarding Internal Revenue Service operations.

“The I.R.S. is preparing to give Gavin Kliger, a young software engineer working with [DOGE], access to sensitive taxpayer information as a senior adviser to the I.R.S.’s acting commissioner. The I.R.S. is still working out the terms of his assignment,” The New York Times reported.

Critics argue that these developments could grant Musk and his team unprecedented oversight. Former Treasury Department official Lily Batchelder, who served during the Biden administration, pointed out on X that she could not recall political appointees ever being granted access to the IRS database, the outlet continued.

Concerns have been raised about the possibility of using this access for political targeting or exposing private citizens' data. Batchelder cautioned that such actions might violate federal laws designed to prevent executive branch interference in taxpayer audits. Additionally, Democratic Senators Ron Wyden of Oregon and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts have called for further clarification on the scope of this access, according to The Times.

While Democrats and mainstream media continue to claim—without presenting evidence—that Musk and his DOGE team will be “accessing sensitive taxpayer information” and could leak it, The Times pointed out that a similar breach already occurred recently—against Musk himself. His tax records from 2014 to 2018, along with those of other billionaires unpopular with the left, were leaked in 2021 by an IRS official to ProPublica.

President Donald Trump, who appointed Musk to lead DOGE, remains steadfast in his support of the Tesla and SpaceX CEO's mission.

“Waste, fraud and abuse have been deeply entrenched in our broken system for far too long,” White House spokesman Harrison Fields stated. “It takes direct access to the system to identify and fix it.”

Meanwhile, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan rejected a motion from 14 Democratic state attorneys general on Tuesday that sought to impose immediate restrictions on Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Led by New Mexico, this coalition argued that Musk's significant role at DOGE is unconstitutional because he was not confirmed by the Senate. They attempted to prevent DOGE from accessing information from seven federal agencies, The Hill reported.

Chutkan denied their request at this stage, stating they had not provided sufficient proof of irreparable harm.

“Plaintiffs legitimately call into question what appears to be the unchecked authority of an unelected individual and an entity that was not created by Congress and over which it has no oversight,” Chutkan wrote in her decision.

“In these circumstances, it must be indisputable that this court acts within the bounds of its authority,” she continued. “Accordingly, it cannot issue a TRO [temporary restraining order], especially one as wide-ranging as Plaintiffs request, without clear evidence of imminent, irreparable harm to these Plaintiffs. The current record does not meet that standard.”

In a footnote, the judge hinted that the Justice Department may have overstated DOGE's influence in personnel matters within court filings. “Defense counsel is reminded of their duty to make truthful representations to the court,” Chutkan noted.

Since Trump’s inauguration, Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has rapidly placed employees within federal agencies in an effort to cut trillions in government expenditures—an initiative that has already faced legal challenges.

The sweeping changes have put Chutkan, an Obama-appointed judge, at the center of another high-profile legal battle. She previously presided over the now-dismissed Jan. 6 criminal case against the former president.