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*Agents* of #billionaire #ElonMusk’s #DOGE have gained access to highly restricted government records on millions of federal employees — including #Treasury & #State Dept officials in sensitive #security positions — as part of a broader effort to wrest control over the government’s main personnel agency, according to 4 US officials with direct knowledge of the developments.

#law #USpol #NationalSecurity #Trump #TrumpCoup

…The records maintained by the Office of Personnel Management, #OPM, amount to a repository of sensitive info about employees of most #FederalAgencies — including addresses, demographic profiles, salary details & disciplinary histories. The moves at the OPM by members of #ElonMusk’s pseudo-governmental DOGE have coincided w/similar efforts to gain access to sensitive systems at other agencies, including a #Treasury Dept system responsible for processing trillions of dollars in US govt payments…

Records obtained by The Post show that several members of #ElonMusk’s #DOGE team — some of whom are in their early 20s & come from positions at his private companies — were given “administrative” access to #OPM computer systems within days of #Trump’s inauguration last month. That gives them sweeping authority to INSTALL & MODIFY SOFTWARE on government-supplied equipment &, according to 2 OPM officials, to ALTER internal documentation of THEIR OWN ACTIVITIES.

The #DOGE team’s demand for access to #OPM files & networks came as #ElonMusk deputies arrived at the agency promising to wipe out 70% of its staff…. A senior OPM ofcl, during a team meeting Wed, said that core units focused on modernizing the agency’s network & improving accountability are “likely to go away,” acc/to a recording of the session obtained by The Post. Those who have been reassigned at the agency include the chief information officer & the chief financial officer.

Meanwhile, morale has plummeted, said 3 #OPM ofcls, as #DOGE agents have clashed w/senior career personnel. One official recalled a recent meeting in which a young DOGE team member began screaming at senior developers & calling them “idiots.”

A halt to IT upgrades — along w/fresh access by outsiders w/the power to install new programs — could create novel vulnerabilities at an agency that has been repeatedly #hacked by foreign #intelligence services.

“It’s like you’re defending some medieval castle & someone comes in & starts firing all the archers who are positioned to defend it,” a former U.S. #intelligence official said. “You let your defenses down. It’s a perfect time to strike.”

The #Trump admin has suggested that members of the #DOGE team have the authority to review sensitive govt files but has refused to provide details about whether #security clearances have been issued. The speed w/which any clearances would have been supplied suggests they may have skipped customary precautions, including #FBI background checks, US ofcls said.
Trump issued an #ExecutiveOrder last month that bypasses the normal procedure for White House staff security checks, DOGE went unmentioned.

At least 6 #DOGE agents were given broad access to all personnel systems at the #OPM on the afternoon of Jan 20, the day of Trump’s inauguration, acc/to 2 agency ofcls. 3 more gained access ~1 week later, they said.

The data that the DOGE team can access includes a massive trove of personal info for millions of federal employees…. It also includes personal info for anyone who applied to a federal job through the site USAJobs, the people said. Last year alone… there were 24.5M applicants.

…Marcus Hutchins, a #cybersecurity expert who stopped the WannaCry ransomware worm…,said risks multiply w/every new user & new machine plugged in at #OPM.
“It’s highly likely they’re improperly accessing, transferring & storing highly sensitive data outside of the environments it was intended to be contained within.If I were a nation like #China, #Russia or #Iran, I’d be having a field day w/a bunch of college kids running around w/sensitive federal govt data on unencrypted hard drive,” he said.