Musk and DOGE Moved at ‘Breakneck Speed’ to Illegally Put Millions of Americans’ Personal Information at Risk
Washington, DC — On Tuesday, Wired reported that National Security Counselors filed a lawsuit on behalf of two unnamed federal employees calling for a temporary restraining order barring the Office of Personnel Management from operating certain computer systems that administration actors have connected to the sensitive information of millions of executive branch employees, federal contractors and judicial branch employees. Moving at “breakneck speed and in complete secrecy,” Elon Musk and DOGE are breaking the law and putting millions of Americans at risk.
The lawsuit alarmingly alleges that in late January, OPM allowed unknown individuals to bypass security protocols and install new systems that ingested mass quantities of personal data on government workers. By doing so, OPM violated the E-Government Act of 2002, which requires agencies to have sufficient protections in place before initiating new efforts to collect or store such sensitive, personal information. All of this was apparently done at the behest of Elon Musk, who has substantial business ties with China and other foreign powers that routinely try to hack or otherwise obtain this data.
The following is a quote from Demand Progress Education Fund Policy Director Sean Vitka:
“Demand Progress Education Fund is supporting this lawsuit because Elon Musk and his team’s incompetent and rapid efforts are putting millions of Americans in danger. We are witnessing an unprecedented exfiltration and seizure of the most sensitive kinds of information by unelected, unvetted people with no experience, responsibility or right to it — all orchestrated by the richest man in the world, with billions on the line in other countries, including ones that have recently hacked exactly this kind of sensitive data. Millions of Americans and the collective interests of the United States desperately need emergency intervention from the courts. The constitutional crisis is already here.”