Senate Democrats want details on DOGE and DHS attempts to access IRS data

Seventeen Democrats are asking the Trump administration for details about reports that the Department of Homeland Security has asked the IRS for information about potentially undocumented immigrants and that Elon Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service has requested access to tax records to check for federal benefits fraud. 

“We applaud the IRS’s rightful rejection of these broad requests for taxpayer return information … but are deeply concerned about recent comments and actions that left the door open for future requests,” the Senators wrote in a Wednesday letter to leadership at the IRS and DHS. They stated that unauthorized disclosures of taxpayer data would violate the strict privacy laws governing the IRS.

Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., led the letter. Attempts from officials working with DOGE to access various government systems and data have sparked concern, lawsuits and even resignations from government officials asked to hand over access.

At the IRS, the agency’s acting top lawyer was replaced with a Trump ally last week, something the senators said “raises serious concerns that IRS leadership is removing career civil servants who push back against illegal orders to violate privacy laws” and would undermine trust in the IRS to the detriment of voluntary tax compliance. 

The group is asking the administration for details — including the written requests for IRS information as reported by the Washington Post — as well as the tax agency’s response and any other unusual requests the IRS has received from other agencies. They also want to know why the acting chief counsel at the agency was removed from the role. 

The letter is the latest in Democrats' oversight actions from Capitol Hill, where they’re in the minority in both chambers and thus have more limited authority.