President Donald Trump said Friday that billionaire Elon Musk and his tech team can access people’s Social Security numbers quite “easily,” an admission fueling Democrats’ efforts in Congress for new data protection legislation.
Musk is leading Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency cost-cutting efforts, using a team of computer whizzes to access government agencies and payment systems to look for programs and people to cut off the payroll.
Musk’s investigation into the Treasury Department’s payment system riled the public with Democrats claiming an unelected billionaire is looking to access the private information of hardworking people.
To stop him, Democrats led by Reps. Haley Stevens (D-MI) and Sean Casten (D-IL) introduced the Taxpayer Data Protection Act to “shield the American people from this out-of-control power grab permanently.”
The legislation would bar “unlawful access to the payment system” at the Treasury Department.
Trump on Friday acknowledged that Musk and his DOGE team can access taxpayers’ personal information and Social Security numbers quite easily.
“Why does DOGE need all of that?” a reporter asked Trump at the White House.
“It doesn’t, but they get it very easily,” Trump replied. “And we don’t have very good security in our country, and they get it very easily.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) placed the blame for Musk’s overreaching authority on Republicans, asking them why they are not concerned about bureaucratic involvement in personal data.
“They’re not stopping them because they’re not working in the best interest of the American people,” Jeffries said on Thursday during a press conference. “They’re simply following far right, extreme orders.”
The taxpayer protection effort comes as DOGE is setting its sights on the Social Security Administration, according to Semafor. Democrats have long accused Republicans of wanting to gut Social Security and Medicaid benefits, a claim resurging as the GOP works to narrow down a topline for the budget reconciliation process.
Trump on Friday claimed he wouldn’t touch Social Security benefits and defended Musk’s work to save taxpayers money by identifying waste.
Republicans have said DOGE will play a significant role in cost cutting as Musk continues to dismantle or review agencies and practices to slash excessive government spending.
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Musk’s team is gutting the U.S. Agency for International Development, and Trump said he’s also asked Musk to target the Pentagon, the Department of Education, and other agencies.
“I wish we didn’t have to do it, but my God, we are here today because there is a narcissistic billionaire running the government who peddles in fascism,” Casten said Thursday. “And if you are listening to that and saying, ‘Is he talking about Donald Trump or Elon Musk?’ then you kind of get the problem.”
The Washington Examiner reached out to DOGE for comment.
