Senate Probe Exposes DOGE Takeover: Armed Guards, Muscle Milk
▼ Summary
– The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) operated without oversight, slashing staff and funding while overriding agency decisions and accessing government systems.
– A Senate report raises grave concerns about a potential catastrophic data breach affecting all Americans and questions who DOGE operatives answer to.
– DOGE gained control by pushing out officials who questioned them and installing their own personnel in key roles to grant unrestricted data access.
– DOGE representatives worked clandestinely in locked, guarded spaces, with one GSA office featuring blacked-out windows and being inaccessible to senior agency officials.
– Agencies could not provide basic information about DOGE personnel, their activities, or data access, with GSA offices containing makeshift bedrooms and excessive electronic equipment.
A Senate investigation has uncovered alarming details about the covert operations of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an entity established under Elon Musk that functioned with minimal oversight inside key federal agencies. The report from the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs raises serious concerns about a potential catastrophic data breach affecting all Americans and questions the chain of command for DOGE personnel. The probe focused on the group’s infiltration of the General Services Administration (GSA), the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), and the Social Security Administration (SSA), revealing a systematic takeover strategy.
Investigators found a consistent pattern where agency officials who raised questions about DOGE’s activities were removed from their positions. In their place, DOGE-affiliated individuals were installed into critical roles, such as Chief Information Officer. These placements allowed them to grant unrestricted access to sensitive government data for other DOGE team members. The report describes these operatives as working in secret, often in areas secured by armed guards and seemingly operating outside the authority of the agency leadership they were supposedly assisting.
One of the most startling discoveries involved a locked room at the GSA headquarters, which agency officials could not open. The windows were covered with black paper, trash bags, and tape. When Senate staff asked why senior building management officials lacked a key, no satisfactory explanation was provided. Investigators were also prohibited from photographing what appeared to be DOGE’s main technical hub within the GSA. This space doubled as a living quarters; the GSA had purchased furniture for seven bedrooms to accommodate “intermittent sleeping,” and a makeshift bedroom was found adjacent to the administrator’s suite.
The administrator’s dining room contained unmade beds and a hot plate, while an office labeled “chief of staff” housed a Ping Pong table. A nearby kitchen featured a refrigerator dedicated to Celsius energy drinks and Muscle Milk. The main office was crowded with ten workstations, stacks of laptops, reportedly eight to ten per person, and multiple cell phones. GSA officials could not confirm if the equipment was agency-issued or identify who the DOGE representatives reported to, referring to them only as “GSA employees.”
Further compounding the opacity, DOGE associates at the SSA were permitted to telework even as all other staff were required to return to the office. Many DOGE members were detailed to multiple agencies at once, a practice experts describe as unprecedented. The report concludes that senior officials at the SSA, GSA, and OPM were unable to provide basic information about who was in charge of DOGE teams, what activities they were engaged in, or what data they could access. None of the agencies could answer simple questions regarding organizational structure or employee responsibilities, highlighting a profound breakdown in accountability and oversight.
(Source: Wired)
