A team under Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has been given administrative access to the Interior Department’s federal payroll system, which handles the salaries of around 276,000 federal employees. This decision, first reported by The New York Times, has raised significant cybersecurity and privacy concerns.
With this level of access, DOGE employees can now view sensitive personal data, including salary details and Social Security numbers. The move has sparked backlash from senior IT officials, who had previously warned that such access could expose government employees’ information to cyber threats and increase the risk of system vulnerabilities.
Efforts to Secure Administrative Control Sources familiar with the situation revealed that DOGE employees had been pushing for administrative control over the Federal Personnel and Payroll System for approximately two weeks. However, the request met resistance from senior officials at the Interior Department. Toward the end of last week, these officials issued a memo detailing their concerns regarding the security implications of granting such access.
The memo, reviewed by The New York Times, described the request as highly unusual. It pointed out that no single official at the Department of Interior currently holds access to all human resources, payroll, and credentialing systems, emphasizing the extraordinary nature of DOGE’s demand.
Cybersecurity and Privacy Threats Highlighted Senior IT officials strongly cautioned that providing DOGE members with elevated access would allow them to retrieve personal data protected under the Privacy Act. This information could potentially make them targets of cyberattacks orchestrated by foreign adversaries, hackers, or other malicious entities.
Furthermore, the memo underscored that administrative access to such a critical government system generally requires extensive training and certification. Without these qualifications, the department risks operational failures stemming from human errors, officials warned.
Legal Responsibility and Interior Secretary’s Response On Friday, federal employees attempted to escalate the issue by requesting that DOGE members present the memo to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum. If signed, the memo would have formally made Burgum legally accountable for any potential risks arising from the decision.
However, according to sources, Burgum did not sign the document. Despite this, Interior Department officials proceeded to grant administrative access to at least two DOGE employees on Saturday, bypassing the objections raised by IT specialists.
With this newfound control, DOGE personnel can now oversee hiring and termination processes for federal employees with greater ease, in addition to viewing sensitive personal data. The move has intensified concerns over the potential misuse of access and the lack of proper oversight.
Retaliation Against IT Officials Who Resisted In a surprising turn of events, Tyler Hassan, the Interior Department’s acting assistant secretary of policy, management, and budget—who previously worked under DOGE—placed two senior IT officials on administrative leave. These officials had been among those who resisted DOGE’s attempts to gain access to the payroll system. According to sources, the officials are now under investigation for alleged workplace misconduct, raising suspicions of retaliatory actions against those who opposed the decision.
Interior Department Justifies Its Actions In response to the growing controversy, an Interior Department spokesperson defended the move, stating: “We are working to execute the President’s directive to cut costs and make the government more efficient for the American people and have taken actions to implement President Trump’s Executive Orders.”
Despite this justification, concerns about cybersecurity risks, government transparency, and potential data misuse remain at the forefront of discussions. Experts warn that such unchecked access to critical government systems could set a dangerous precedent, leaving sensitive federal employee information more vulnerable than ever before.
