Congress
GOP privacy hawks brush off concerns about DOGE data dives
Some of the Senate’s most notorious GOP privacy hawks are shrugging off moves by Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency to access Americans’ sensitive taxpayer data.
It’s a sharp turn for lawmakers who often carp about intrusions on individual privacy, and just the latest example of how Republicans are willing to forgive an unelected billionaire set on shattering institutional norms.
In this case, Musk is seeking to give his team the ability to look up personal information on an IRS system that contains broad individual financial records along with information from the Social Security Administration.
Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, a frequent critic of Big Tech’s use of Americans’ personal data, said Tuesday night that DOGE employees were required to “follow all federal laws related to privacy and so forth” and he would be “shocked” if they were skirting those rules.
“I assume and expect that they are adhering to whatever the rules are for their level of clearance and their level of government employee and their designation,” Hawley said, adding that he did not know the security clearance status of DOGE’s staff. “So long as they’re adhering to those, that’s fine.”
But DOGE’s move to access IRS data has prompted real questions about its lawfulness — and a legal challenge. Democrats have raised alarm that the Trump administration could be looking to leverage government databases against Americans whose activities they oppose, while a group of organizations on Monday filed a lawsuit that would block Musk and his associates from obtaining information from the tax agency.
The White House has argued DOGE is simply trying to prevent fraud. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, in an interview with Fox News, said Musk’s team was working within “guardrails” to modernize “an outdated IT system,” and Americans “don’t have to be concerned about any of this.”
Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, another defender of individual privacy rights and opponent of government surveillance efforts, also appeared like Hawley to be taking the administration at its word that there was nothing out of the ordinary taking place.
“I think anybody who looks at government data is bound by rules on privacy — I don’t know how this would be any different than someone else looking at it,” said Paul in an interview. “All the rules of privacy still apply. If they’re breaking any rules, they’ll get in trouble, but you have to look at the data to find the problems.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune conceded that “there certainly are concerns when it comes to the privacy of personal information,” but also said, “I don’t think it’s unusual that a White House or administration … would have access to these type of records.”
One Senate Republican, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, cast aside concerns around privacy for the sake of the administration’s ability to “get rid of all the fraud … instead of worrying about our information.”
Jordain Carney contributed to this report.
Senate Budget Committee Republicans will meet Tuesday morning to talk about advancing a fiscal blueprint for a new party-line spending bill.
Chair Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) declined to say , in an interview Monday if he plans to introduce a resolution this week, noting that he was “working with leadership” and that the “first priority” is to pass a stopgap spending bill. Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a panel member, said he didn’t expect the Senate to take up a budget resolution this week because “I don’t think my leadership wants to do it.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune hasn’t ruled out taking up a budget resolution but has been frank about the challenges it faces among GOP senators.
The Senate’s stopgap funding bill to avert a shutdown on Oct. 1 has cleared the first procedural hurdle, putting it on track for passage before lawmakers leave for the August recess.
Senators voted 89-4 to advance the measure, which would fund federal agencies through Dec. 11 at current levels, with some exceptions.
In order for a passage vote to happen ahead of the summer break, Senate leaders will need to strike a bipartisan time agreement to fast-track the measure to a final vote.
“It is a strong bipartisan piece of legislation, and I hope it will receive overwhelming support from both parties in the Senate,” Majority Leader John Thune said in a Monday floor speech.
Senate passage would up a potential battle with the House, because the stopgap measure the House passed two weeks ago has key differences from the Senate version. Identical versions must be passed to actually avert a shutdown at the end of the fiscal year.
The Senate measure includes language to bar the Trump administration from putting into action a plan to make political appointees in charge of approving grants, a prohibition that would last for the length of the stopgap. It also has language sought by Democrats to ensure Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement don’t get any new funding under the patch.
“The bill allows us to continue negotiating a budget that won’t leave working families behind,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Monday.
The White House did not respond to multiple requests for comment about if President Donald Trump supports the Senate measure. Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), an appropriator and administration ally, said Monday he had spoken to Trump earlier in the day and believed the president is “comfortable” with the Senate bill.
Jordain Carney and Jennifer Scholtes contributed to this report.
Jack Smith, the former special counsel who brought criminal charges against President Donald Trump, has been invited to testify Sept. 22 before the Senate Judiciary Committee, according to an invitation from Chair Chuck Grassley reviewed by Blue Light News.
Smith previously testified before the House Judiciary Committee in January, but Grassley (R-Iowa) and his team have been probing Smith and his investigations for months.
Grassley recently revealed that Smith obtained text messages that 44 members of Congress sent to White House officials during the waning months of Trump’s first term leading up to and around the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack.
Grassley’s texts were among those accessed by Smith’s team, along with Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah), Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Tom Cotton (R-Ark.).
“In the process of a deeply flawed, weaponized investigation, Jack Smith subpoenaed phone toll records from a dozen senators, scooped up text messages from over 40 members of Congress, and subpoenaed the private communications and financial records of hundreds of other Republican entities and individuals,” Grassley said in a statement.
“He needs to answer directly to Congress for his actions,” Grassley added. “Smith has requested to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee, and our committee looks forward to hearing from him as part of Congress’ investigation into Arctic Frost and his time as Special Counsel. Smith must be honest and forthcoming in his answers, because the American people deserve nothing less than full transparency and accountability.”
Lawyers for Smith did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
During the January hearing, Republicans focused on technicalities of how Smith investigated the probe into Trump’s election interference, such as whether he properly signed his oath of office and whether he was sufficiently versed on the Constitution’s “speech or debate” clause that protects members of Congress from criminal investigation for their lawmaking actions.
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