Lawmakers concerned about DOGE dive into IRS, taxpayer information, aviation system

President Donald Trump has only been back in the White House for a month, but with billionaire Elon Musk leading the way, his administration has already fired more than 10,000 federal employees — and the number is only growing.

The IRS is among the latest agencies targeted by Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

DOGE has been seeking access to IRS systems in the middle of tax season, sparking concerns about taxpayer privacy.

Senate Finance Committee members Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., wrote to acting IRS Commissioner Douglas O’Donnell on Monday, voicing their concern about what kind of access the DOGE team will have and suggesting its members could “weaponize government databases.”

“The IRS must immediately disclose to the Senate Committee on Finance the full extent of the potential access to IRS systems and data granted to DOGE team members so that the committee can address any efforts by DOGE personnel to gain access to taxpayer records at the IRS, which may constitute criminal violations of federal privacy laws,” they wrote.

The White House has defended the efforts to gain access at the IRS, stating it is necessary to continue to go after waste and fraud in the federal government.

The administration reportedly plans to lay off thousands of probationary workers at the agency.

Firings at the FAA

Firings are underway at the Federal Aviation Administration, which also worries Democratic members of Congress.

Several hundred probationary workers started to learn over the weekend that they were being let go.

DOGE has focused largely on probationary workers because they haven’t worked in the federal government as long and are easier to fire, even though many have years of experience in their field that they had accumulated before getting a government job.

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., is among the Democratic lawmakers from the D.C. area who have been sounding the alarm about federal job cuts and what’s happening with air safety.

Warner said he worries about the possibility of current air traffic controllers accepting the administration’s offer for “deferred resignations.” He recently pointed out that the nation continues to face a shortage of thousands of air traffic controllers.

“If those air traffic controllers start taking the buyout, we’re up the creek,” Warner said.

Even before the latest FAA firings, he and several lawmakers from the D.C. area had written to the FAA expressing concern that the DOGE team was going to “plug in” to the agency as it seeks to make changes.

Their concerns about air safety have been heightened by the recent midair collision near Arlington’s Reagan National Airport between an Army Black Hawk helicopter and a regional American Airlines jet, which killed 67 people.

DOGE in Virginia

He said it was important to get a “firsthand look” at the current system and consider how it can be improved.

America deserves safe, state-of-the-art travel, and President Trump has ordered that I deliver a new, world-class air traffic control system that will be the envy of the world,” Duffy said in a statement.

He issued a call to the private industry to help with the effort.

“The safety of air travel is a non-partisan matter,” Musk posted on X, adding that his SpaceX engineers “will help make air travel safer.”

But Democratic lawmakers have pointed out that Musk has potential conflicts of interest, since SpaceX has secured billions of dollars in federal contracts over the years.

Duffy, meanwhile, said he plans to travel this week to the FAA Academy in Oklahoma to meet with air traffic controller instructors and students.

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