Elon Musk‘s invasion of the U.S. Treasury payment system with Department of Government Efficiency staff endangers the private information of America’s veterans and their families.
Reports included DOGE accessing Veterans Affairs computer systems at the department’s headquarters in Washington, D.C.
U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine of Virginia joined Ranking Member of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and 23 of their Senate Democratic colleagues on Friday in a letter to Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Doug Collins pushing him to take immediate actions to secure veterans’ personal information.
Millions of veterans’ medical records are stored in the VA’s computer systems. The confidential records include veterans’ prescriptions, diagnoses and procedures undergone. Access to medical records could give Musk and DOGE the ability to identify veterans who have received abortions or abortion counseling in the past. The Million Veteran Program, which manages the genomic data of its more than 1 million veteran participants for authorized research programs, also stores its data in VA data systems. The U.S. Treasury’s payment system stores private information of veterans, surviving spouses and their families, including their monthly disability compensation amount, home address and bank account numbers.
In their letter, the senators demanded the Secretary deny and sever Musk and DOGE’s access to any VA or other government system with information about veterans, and to delete any veterans’ information in their possession.
“Among many tasks, the Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is entrusted with safeguarding the private and sensitive information of millions of veterans…Veterans risked their lives to defend our country, and they deserve better than to have an unelected billionaire reviewing their medical records, targeting the benefits they have earned, or using their private information for personal gain,” the senators wrote.
The letter mentions that America‘s veterans entrusted health records, genetic samples, disability data, bank information and other private information to the VA, which also stores sensitive veteran casework whistleblower files and sensitive investigative files on veterans and federal employees.
“Meanwhile, the President has given unfettered access to federal databases and systems to Mr. Musk, an unelected citizen, and a team of colleagues with no formal documented employment agreement with the U.S. government. It is a group of private citizens with no experience in the federal government, who lack proper approval from legal and agency authorities, lack the appropriate security clearances, and lack the requisite background investigations or ethical conflict requirements. We are outraged these unelected, unvetted, and unaccountable individuals now have access to sensitive information that has been heavily secured for decades and by Administrations of both parties.”
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Rebecca Barnabi
