Musk’s Doge gains access to federal payroll system despite staff warnings

Members of Elon Musk’s so-called “department of government efficiency” (Doge) reportedly gained access to a payroll system over the weekend that processes salaries for around 276,000 federal employees across various government agencies, despite warnings from senior staff about the potential risks.

According to two people familiar with the situation who spoke with the New York Times, Doge employees had spent around two weeks trying to obtain administrative access to the program, known as the Federal Personnel and Payroll System.

Then, toward the end of last week, senior career officials at the interior department reportedly issued a memo highlighting the unusual nature of the request and the associated risks with granting it.

The memo, reviewed by the Times, stated that “such elevated access to critical high-value asset systems is rare with respect to individual systems and no single [Department of Interior] official presently has access to all HR, payroll and credentialing systems.”

The senior employees reportedly warned that granting Doge employees this level of access would allow them to be able to view highly sensitive personal information that is subject to controls under the Privacy Act and cautioned that individuals given this elevated access could become targets for cybersecurity attacks by terrorists, nations or other malicious actors.

The memo emphasized that gaining administrative access to the system “typically requires training and certification”.

“Without formal qualifications, the Department may experience significant failure because of operator error,” the memo said.

On Friday, the federal employees reportedly asked the Doge workers to deliver the memo to Doug Burgum, the interior secretary, for his signature, thereby assuming the legal responsibility for the associated risks.

However, Burgum reportedly never signed the memo.

But on Saturday, interior department officials reportedly granted at least two Doge employees the access they had requested, the two people told the Times.

With this access, the Doge employees now have visibility into sensitive employee information, like social security numbers, and are able to more easily hire and fire federal workers, according to the Times, citing the two people with knowledge who spoke with the newspaper on condition of anonymity due to fear of retribution.

Meanwhile, Tyler Hassan, the recently named interior department’s acting assistant secretary of policy, management and budget and a former Doge employee, reportedly placed two of the IT officials who had resisted the Doge employees on administrative leave and under investigation for their “workplace behavior”, according to the two sources.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the interior department said: “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.”