Top Democratic Senators Send ‘Urgent Demand’ Letter to IRS on DOGE Access

A copy of an IRS 1040 tax form at an H&R Block office in Miami on Dec. 22, 2017. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Several top Democrats have questioned the IRS on whether the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has accessed taxpayer information amid reports about the organization’s activity in recent days.

In an “urgent demand” letter to the IRS’s acting director, Douglas O’Donnell, on Feb. 17, Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) asked for “a list of all DOGE team members currently employed at the IRS,” whether the tax collection agency had signed any agreements with DOGE, and whether DOGE had gained access to the IRS’s systems.

The senators made reference to public reporting, citing anonymous sources, around an alleged memorandum of understanding between DOGE and the IRS that they said would potentially provide the “DOGE team members access to the IRS Integrated Data Retrieval System (IDRS), raising serious concerns that Elon Musk and his associates are seeking to weaponize government databases containing private bank records and other confidential information to target American citizens and businesses as part of a political agenda.”

The IDRS is an IRS software system that is used to gain access to taxpayer accounts and allows employees to send notices, enter data on taxpayers, and request tax returns from Americans.

According to an IRS rulebook posted on the agency’s website, individuals who access the IDRS cannot review the tax information of friends, relatives, celebrities, neighbors, individuals or organizations with whom the IDRS user has a business or personal relationship, anyone living in the user’s household, and more. Those accessing the system can access only accounts deemed “necessary for accomplishing official duties,” it stipulates.

“IDRS users shall not access the account of any taxpayer or another IRS employee unless there is a business need and access has been formally authorized as part of the user’s official duties,” the rulebook states.

It further warned that “all actions taken on the IDRS, both authorized and unauthorized, are recorded in the IDRS audit trail.”

The Democratic senators also wrote that they are concerned that DOGE is looking into the IRS’s systems during the 2025 tax filing season, which ends on April 15. They claimed that such activity could “cause breakdowns” that delay tax refunds.

“Please provide a list of all DOGE team members currently employed at the IRS,” the Democratic senators wrote to the IRS.

Jan. 27 was the official start date of the 2025 tax season, and the IRS has said that it expects more than 140 million tax returns to be filed by April 15. The agency also has said that taxpayers who file electronically will see their refunds within 21 days, and those who submit a paper filing will receive refunds within six to eight weeks.

“Any delay in refunds could be financially devastating to millions of Americans who plan their budgets around timely refunds every spring,” Wyden and Warren said in their letter.

Last week, President Donald Trump was asked about DOGE, an organization that he created via executive action, and whether it would look into the IRS.

“I think that the Internal Revenue Service will be looked at like everybody else; just about everybody is going to be looked at,” Trump told reporters on Feb. 13, adding that DOGE is doing “an amazing job.”

DOGE, meanwhile, launched an account on social media platform X on Feb. 17 called “DOGE IRS.” It has a verified checkmark signaling that it is affiliated with DOGE.

“DOGE is seeking help from the public! Please DM this account with insights on finding and fixing waste, fraud, and abuse relating to the Internal Revenue Service,” the account stated in its first post on Feb. 17.

The Epoch Times contacted the IRS for comment on Feb. 17, or Presidents’ Day, a federal holiday.