Democrats worry that Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency workers could gain access to the U.S.’s most classified nuclear secrets as its agents grill federal staff.
As DOGE lieutenants pour through federal agency’s data and conduct interviews with federal employees two Democrats, Sen. Edward Markey and Rep. Don Beyer, sent a letter to Energy Sec. Chris Wright airing their concerns over who has access to nuclear information.
‘The nation and the world need to know that U.S. nuclear secrets are robustly safeguarded,’ the lawmakers wrote in the letter sent Wednesday.
‘It is, therefore, dangerously unacceptable that Elon Musk’s DOGE — including individuals lacking adequate security clearances — has been granted access to DOE’s information technology system despite legitimate security concerns inside the agency,’ their note continued.
Notably the DOE runs the National Nuclear Security Administration, which oversees the U.S.’s nuclear weapons stockpile and other dangerous materials.
Wright admitted last week that DOGE’s ‘nerd army’ working within the Department of Energy (DOE) lacked top secret credentials. He instead described them ‘friends in Elon’s broader circle.’
Though a DOE spokesperson refuted that any DOGE employees have yet accessed sensitive nuclear information.
‘No DOGE employees at the Energy Department have accessed or have been granted access to classified information or facilities including, but not limited to NNSA classified information,’ an agency spokesperson said in a statement Wednesday.
The scare over DOGE employee’s access to sensitive U.S. nuclear information comes at the same time the cost cutting lieutenants are grilling federal about their performances.
Frightened federal employees who have been interviewed by Musk’s DOGE minions have left their meetings anxious and with a looming feeling they will soon be fired.
Three members of the General Services Agency (GSA) who spoked to Politico revealed how they are racked with worry over how their sessions with DOGE’s ‘nerd army’ went.
GSA workers deal with the government’s massive real estate portfolio, procure office supplies and software along with other administrative tasks that help the massive federal workforce keep going.
These GSA workers, whose identities were not revealed, think they will soon be let go after sub-par performance reviews, describing their meetings as ‘potentially career-ending.’
They expressed that every word they spoke felt like it could later become grounds for dismissal and highlighted concerns over whether their government work culture could mesh with that of the Silicon Valley DOGE workers who, at times, have reportedly been working over 120 hours a week.
‘The interviews are anxiety provoking,’ said one GSA supervisor whose subordinates got pulled into DOGE meetings.
Their workers tensed up after receiving a note from a Gmail account ‘frequently with almost no notice and often scheduled over existing client meetings.’
‘Most people are trying to hype their technical skills,’ Another GSA project manager admitted.
‘They don’t think DOGE people respect the softer ‘moving complex projects through government bureaucracy’ types of skills,’ they continued while alluding to some questionable bona fides that seem to be at odds with DOGE’s mandate.
This project manager described a whirlwind interview that lasted no longer than 15 minutes and shared they believe their job is at risk after the session.
Project managers generally act as middlemen between decision makers ‘to get buy-in from senior leadership about tech things they might know nothing about,’ this concerned GSA worker shared.
And these middlemen are exactly who Musk and his group of workers are trying to force out of the government.