DOGE Is Seeking Access To Critical IRS System That Holds Taxpayer Data—Here’s What To Know

IRS’ sensitive Integrated Data Retrieval System could allow the Musk-led agency to access detailed financial information about every taxpayer in the country.

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Topline

The Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency is reportedly seeking access to a sensitive Internal Revenue Service system—which could enable its operatives to see the financial details of every taxpayer and business—a move that could further amplify criticism and legal pushback against the increasingly powerful agency and Musk’s influence on the government.

Key Facts

According to the Washington Post, which first reported the matter, DOGE operatives are set to be allowed access to several of the IRS’s key systems, including the highly sensitive Integrated Data Retrieval System (IDRS).

The IDRS allows the tax agency’s staffers to gain “instantaneous visual access to certain taxpayer accounts,” to research account information, request returns, adjust or change transaction data and automatically generate “notices, collection documents and other outputs.”

Gavin Kliger, a DOGE-affiliated 25-year-old software engineer, will be granted access to the IRS’ systems for 120 days under a memorandum of understanding and he will officially be tasked with providing “engineering assistance and IT modernization consulting,” the Post reported.

A White House spokesperson Harrison Fields confirmed DOGE’s plan to NBC News, saying the agency’s operative was acting “legally and with the appropriate security clearances.”

Fields added that “direct access” to the IRS’ systems was needed to identify and fix “Waste, fraud and abuse.”

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What Do We Know About The Idrs?

The IDRS is one of the IRS’ most heavily guarded systems and according to the agency’s website, its security procedures are designed to protect a taxpayer from “unauthorized disclosure of information concerning his/her account and unauthorized changes to it.” The system contains highly sensitive data, such as master files for individual taxpayers, businesses, retirement accounts and employer pension plans. The agency’s website notes that IDRS users are “authorized to access only those accounts required to accomplish their official duties,” and they are not allowed to access “the account of a friend or relative, or any account in which they have a personal or financial interest.” The agency also notes that each IDRS user “will be furnished a password on a periodic basis.”

Key Background

DOGE’s reported bid to gain access to the IRS systems comes just days after the Attorneys General from 14 states sued Musk, the agency and President Donald Trump. The suit alleges Musk’s “virtually unchecked authority” is unconstitutional and accuses the president of transforming a minor role that was “formerly responsible for managing government websites into a designated agent of chaos without limitation.” Earlier this month, a federal judge issued an order blocking DOGE operatives from accessing the Treasury department’s payments systems, citing an increased risk of hacking of sensitive information. The agency had been granted access to the Treasury’s systems to “monitor and potentially limit government spending.”

Tangent

In a post on X early on Monday, Musk shared a list he claimed was from the Social Security database showing several millions of individuals in the age bracket above 100 years old. Musk wrote: “Maybe Twilight is real and there are a lot of vampires collecting Social Security” DOGE’s official account responded saying it was “looking into this.”