Democratic members of the Senate Appropriations Committee have asked the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for more information on what the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is doing at the agency after reports that DOGE has been granted access to veterans’ personal records.
In a letter sent to VA Secretary Doug Collins, Sens. Jon Ossoff of Georgia, Patty Murray of Washington, Jack Reed of Rhode Island, Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, and Gary Peters of Michigan are asking to be provided with a list of all DOGE workers who have visited VA facilities and accessed VA data, and which VA data or information technology (IT) systems have been accessed.
The request follows reports that DOGE personnel and the group’s chief Elon Musk had been given access to VA computer systems at the department’s headquarters, shortly after Musk and his team were allowed into the Treasury Department’s payment systems.
“We understand that personnel reporting to Mr. Musk have recently visited VA facilities,” wrote the legislators. “Senators, veterans, and members of the public have serious concerns regarding Mr. Musk’s extraordinary and unprecedented activities and the lack of transparency surrounding them, including his potential access to and handling of sensitive or personal information.”
A response was requested by Feb. 20, including answers to other questions such as the frequency of access to VA databases, IT systems, and VA staff, and whether any DOGE-associated personnel has accessed, handled, downloaded, copied, or transferred any personally identifiable information (PII) and medical records of veterans or VA employees, and how many were affected by the data access.
Senators also asked whether DOGE directly or remotely connected to any devices not owned by the Federal government to access VA systems.
The request for more information on DOGE follows an additional letter sent to Collins earlier this month, signed by 26 Democratic senators who called on the new secretary to keep veterans’ data out of the hands of Musk and DOGE citing privacy concerns.
“Veterans risked their lives to defend our country, and they deserve better than to have an unelected billionaire reviewing their medical records, targeting the benefits they have earned, or using their private information for personal gain,” senators wrote while asking Collins to “deny and sever” DOGE’s access to any VA databases.
It may prove difficult though for the VA to conduct an internal audit of the data access after President Donald Trump fired Michael Missal, the now former VA inspector general (IG), amid a flurry of firings across multiple agencies’ IGs. Most recently, IGs fired by the new administration have filed a lawsuit to get their jobs back.
The VA has also fired over 1,000 employees according to Collins who claimed the firings will save the department over $98 million each year. Lawmakers have since insisted that employees laid off be reinstated.
“One of the reasons I voted for you to become Secretary of Veterans Affairs was your promise to protect the needs of veterans and oppose the privatization of the VA. And then, in your first few weeks on the job, you lay off over 1,000 VA employees at a department that is already understaffed,” wrote Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., in a letter to Collins. “There is no way that these layoffs will not negatively impact the veterans of our country in terms of the health care and benefits they receive.”
