Warren Questions Secretary Lutnick on DOGE Access to Confidential Commerce Data of Musk’s Business Competitors
“The Department is perhaps the largest repository of trade secrets and other forms of sensitive and confidential data on Mr. Musk’s competitors and business partners.”
“The Commerce Department is at a fork in the road. The public depends on the Department’s ability to protect business confidential information and use it in the service of the nation, not the interests of one billionaire’s business empire.”
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, warning the Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, against granting Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) access to Department’s largest repository of trade secrets and confidential data on Mr. Musk’s competitors and business partners.
DOGE has gained access to key government databases across several federal agencies. Senator Warren emphasized that such activities at the Commerce Department, which relies on being able to protect sensitive business confidential information to administer grant programs, set technical standards, and calibrate export controls, undermines public trust, and could potentially provide Musk’s businesses with potentially unfair advantages.
“Under the guise of cost-cutting and uncovering fraud, Elon Musk and his DOGE associates have moved across the federal government, demanding access to critical databases and IT systems, exfiltrating sensitive data to feed AI programs, and firing civil servants that stand in their way. Mr. Musk, meanwhile, even while serving as a Special Government Employee, continues to expand his business empire,” wrote Senator Warren.
The letter cites Elon Musk’s continued involvement in business dealings while serving as a Special Government Employee, including his attempt to acquire OpenAI, his deal with Visa to enter the mobile payments space, and his moves to influence regulatory bodies like the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Labor Relations Board.
Senator Warren also raised concerns regarding the Department’s critical role in managing information vital to national security. With China and other adversaries already seeking to exploit U.S. economic and technological data, the letter warns that granting DOGE access to sensitive information could inadvertently enable national security risks, including cyber espionage or market manipulation.
“Mr. Musk, of course, is not the only one interested in the Commerce Department’s database. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) and its legions of state-sponsored hackers have gone to great lengths to break into our economic agencies and exfiltrate data on export controls and Sanctions,” wrote Senator Warren. “News that ‘a handful of 19-to-24 year-old engineers’ are bypassing regular security protocols and are uploading sensitive and sometimes classified government information into a central repository, without cybersecurity protections in place, has undoubtedly made its way to Beijing.”
Senator Warren called for transparency on the extent of Musk’s involvement within the Department of Commerce, demanded clarification on how Musk’s actions comply with federal conflict-of-interest rules and sought information on whether appropriate safeguards are in place to ensure that his personal financial interests do not interfere with operations, and has requested written responses from the Department by February 28, 2025.
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