Numerous lawsuits are pending over DOGE access to agency IT systems. Image: Mark Van Scyoc/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffThe inspector general’s office at OPM has said it is expanding an ongoing audit of the agency’s information technology systems in response to House Democrats asking it to assess whether access to federal personnel files there by the DOGE project risks privacy violations and cybersecurity threats.
“The OPM OIG has reviewed your request and incorporated parts of your request into existing work. We have also initiated a new engagement on specific emerging risks at OPM that are related to issues raised in your letter,” the office said in a letter to Rep. Gerald Connolly, D-Va., the ranking Democrat on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
In similar letters to a half-dozen agencies, Connolly and others said “We are deeply concerned that unauthorized system access could be occurring across the federal government and could pose a major threat to the personal privacy of all Americans and to the national security of our nation.” They asked for information including which systems DOGE has accessed and for how long, what security protocols were followed, and the potential risk to privacy and national security.
“Several of the concerns you expressed in your letter touch on issues that the OPM OIG evaluates as part of our annual reviews of OPM’s IT and financial systems, and we plan to incorporate those concerns into these existing projects,” the IG said. “We have also just begun an engagement to assess risks associated with new and modified information systems at OPM. We believe that, ultimately, our new engagement will broadly address many of your questions related to the integrity of OPM systems.”
Numerous lawsuits are pending over DOGE access to agency IT systems, including in one where a judge issued a temporary restraining order after finding that the access to the OPM systems likely violates the Privacy Act.
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