WASHINGTON 鈥 Democrats pushed back against Elon Musk鈥檚 Department of Government Efficiency as it turns its attention to the Education Department, with lawmakers raising concerns about DOGE鈥檚 access to internal systems containing personal information on tens of millions of Americans.
In a letter to the acting education secretary, a group of Democrats seeks to intervene as DOGE gains increasing access to student loan databases and other systems. Democrats fear it could lay the groundwork for a takeover akin to Musk鈥檚 attempt to close the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Democrats including California Rep. Mark Takano were turned away by security Friday when they tried to enter the department鈥檚 Washington headquarters after demanding a meeting with leaders appointed by President Donald Trump.
鈥淧resident Donald Trump has promised to abolish the Department of Education,鈥 Takano said in a news conference outside the headquarters. 鈥淗e believes that he can do this through executive order, and we鈥檙e here to remind him that he cannot.鈥
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The Department of Education has been in turmoil as Trump, a Republican, sets out to abolish it. The White House is considering an executive order that would tell the education secretary to slash the department as far as possible and urge Congress to fully terminate it.
Dozens of employees were placed on paid leave with little explanation, and workers from DOGE began scouring the department鈥檚 records as they look to slash spending.
Separately, Democratic lawmakers asked for a Treasury Department investigation of the access Musk鈥檚 team was given to the government鈥檚 payment system, citing 鈥渢hreats to the economy and national security, and the potential violation of laws protecting Americans鈥 privacy and tax data.鈥
Lawmakers sent letters Friday to Treasury鈥檚 deputy inspector general and the acting inspector general for tax administration. In addition, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., wrote to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
The letters laid out their concerns over a lack of transparency and public accountability about the access being granted to the federal government鈥檚 financial plumbing.
The payments system handles trillions of dollars over the course of a year, including tax refunds and Social Security benefits. That raises questions about whether the review by the tech billionaire Musk鈥檚 DOGE is legal.
Also Friday, 19 Democratic attorneys general sued Trump to stop DOGE from accessing Treasury Department records that contain sensitive personal data such as Social Security and bank account numbers for millions of Americans.
The case, filed in federal court in New York City, alleges the Trump administration allowed Musk's team access to the Treasury Department鈥檚 central payment system in violation of federal law.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Musk鈥檚 DOGE team already gained access to a database housing personal information on millions of students and parents with federal student loans, according to two people with knowledge of the issue.
One of them, a department employee, said a DOGE representative requested the access more than a week ago. A third person said DOGE would be given administrator access to the department鈥檚 website, allowing Musk鈥檚 workers to change the text on any page or take the site offline.
The people spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
Employees described a DOGE team of several young men that has been working out of the undersecretary鈥檚 office on the seventh floor.
Staff members were told little about the team, which was spotted in hallways and rummaging through boxes but mostly ignore others, said Sheria Smith, president of a federal employees union that represents some of the agency鈥檚 staff.
鈥淭hey are not interacting at all, not even cordially, with anyone who is not part of their team,鈥 Smith said.
A federal lawsuit filed Friday seeks to block DOGE鈥檚 access to student financial aid systems, saying it violates privacy rights of millions of federal student loan borrowers. It was filed by the advocacy group Student Defense on behalf of the University of California Student Association.
It says DOGE could now have access to Social Security numbers, driver鈥檚 license numbers, dates of birth and contact information for student loan borrowers. The database also houses information on the parents of dependent loan applicants, including citizenship status and income information.
The suit says it鈥檚 an 鈥渆normous and unprecedented鈥 invasion of privacy for more than 42 million people whose personal data is stored in Federal Student Aid systems. It says those people trusted the department with their information when they applied for federal loans and grants or filled out the FAFSA student aid form.
Rep. Bobby Scott, the ranking Democrat on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, asked a government watchdog to review the security of data at the Education Department and other agencies where Musk鈥檚 team gained access.
His Friday letter to the Government Accountability Office called it a 鈥渃onstitutional emergency,鈥 especially after Trump fired the inspectors general of several agencies this month.
鈥淭here is now a void of oversight for a very young and inexperienced team and their leader, the world鈥檚 richest man,鈥 Scott wrote.
Trump campaigned on a promise to close the department, claiming it has been infiltrated by 鈥渞adicals, zealots and Marxists.鈥 He nominated professional wrestling mogul Linda McMahon to be his education secretary and quipped at a Tuesday news conference that he wants her 鈥渢o put herself out of a job.鈥
