Musk’s DOGE probed by top watchdog after poking around Uncle Sam's systems

HELLFIRE

https://www.theregister.com/2025/04/30/doge_goa_probe/

The US Government Accountability Office has confirmed it launched audits of Elon Musk’s Trump-blessed cost-trimming DOGE unit amid concerns that its access to agency systems may be complicating oversight and involving sensitive data. … Now, prompted by earlier requests for a review of DOGE’s activities, federal auditors want to know what the Tesla billionaire’s team has actually achieved. US Comptroller General Gene Dodaro told the Senate Appropriations Committee during a hearing that GAO auditors are actively reviewing DOGE’s “digital footprint” across agencies, including the Treasury, Social Security Administration, and Office of Personnel Management, to assess its impact on federal operations. The audits will give the GAO “a better idea about what impact DOGE’s access has had on data systems, whether there’s been any information input or taken out of the system,” Dodaro said (41:47 in the hearing video) in response to a question from Senator Martin Heinrich (D-NM) on whether DOGE’s access to government systems is making it harder for GAO staff to conduct oversight work. … The GAO chief said he doesn’t yet have have a timeline for completion of the investigations, noting that GAO auditors are “just getting started,” but stated that reports on DOGE’s impact at various agencies would be released as soon as each was completed. During Tuesday’s hearing (1:02:00 mark), Senator Heinrich also questioned whether DOGE was simply duplicating GAO work, pointing to Dodaro’s statement that every dollar invested in the agency has returned $123 in savings over the past six years. …

Regards

vaxvms

Please don’t beat me up….. Does anyone really believe this finding is going to change anything?

HELLFIRE

vaxvms Does anyone really believe this finding is going to change anything?

To avoid topic derailment, I’ll simply say “We’ll See…”

Regards

Somewhat-Reticent

Considering reported tracking avoidance and erasure, what’s left to find?
/sardonic

Rook

vaxvms Please don’t beat me up….. Does anyone really believe this finding is going to change anything?

It won’t.

Astyanax

vaxvms Please don’t beat me up….. Does anyone really believe this finding is going to change anything?

HELLFIRE Senator Heinrich also questioned whether DOGE was simply duplicating GAO work

I guess we should DOGE the GAO then too since it’s so useless and redundant. 😉

HELLFIRE

Per the new rules, only sharing the link and TheReg subtitle.

https://www.theregister.com/2025/05/01/dems_ask_for_musks_financial/ – House Oversight probes missing Musk disclosures, background checks, data mess at NLRB

ESPECIALLY poignant is TheReg’s observation why it took so long for this inquiry to start…

Regards

Rook

HELLFIRE Per the new rules, only sharing the link and TheReg subtitle.

This is going to suck the life out of the Security forum.
On the bright side, the preview function works with links from The Register.
I’d still prefer a carefully curated snippet from the article, like what I’ve been reading all of this time.

Anyway, the NLRB screwed up the way most companies who suffer breaches screw up: they tried to keep it a secret.
Luckily there was a whistleblower.
Somehow I still doubt there will be substantial changes to security policy because of this.

HELLFIRE

Rook This is going to suck the life out of the Security forum.

Hey, I’ll still be around punning the heck out of what I can pun the heck out of XD XD

Regards

Rook

Thank you for that. 👍️