DOGE assigns staffers to work at agency where it allegedly removed sensitive data

The ad hoc Department of Government Efficiency team is assigning two staffers to work at the independent agency where a whistleblower alleged Tuesday DOGE may have already removed sensitive labor data from its systems.

Just one day after NPR reported on the disclosure filed by whistleblower Daniel Berulis, DOGE representatives visited the National Labor Relations Board office in Washington, D.C. for a meeting, according to an email obtained by NPR.

The email, sent to staff on behalf of NLRB chairman Marvin E. Kaplan and acting general counsel William Cowen and shared with NPR by two NLRB employees at regional offices who are not authorized to speak publicly, said two DOGE representatives would be detailed to the agency from the General Services Administration “part-time for several months” and would largely work remotely.

“The representatives have requested information about agency operations but asked us to remove any personally identifiable information from documents we provide,” the email reads. “Consistent with the President’s Executive Order and applicable laws, the Agency will comply with DOGE’s requests for access and information.”

It’s unclear why DOGE would need access to agency files that contain personally identifiable information to complete its mission of improving efficiency, outside of employment records for potential reductions in force. The agency publishes publicly available annual performance and accountability reports and budget justifications that former NLRB members told NPR would likely be sufficient in looking for ways to cut costs.

The NLRB employees in the regional offices who shared the email told NPR that the atmosphere at work is chaotic. “There is panic among the employees,” said one of the employees. “My office has been in turmoil since this afternoon’s email … people are concerned about the data.”

“DOGE coming into the building with access to systems prior to an investigation is a major red flag — what are they doing now? Someone needs to step in, isolate the systems, and conduct an investigation,” said Andrew Bakaj of the nonprofit Whistleblower Aid, who is Berulis’s attorney.

Tim Bearese, the NLRB’s acting press secretary, did not respond to NPR’s questions about DOGE visiting the agency. Earlier this week, Bearese denied that NLRB granted DOGE access to its systems and said DOGE had not requested access to the agency’s systems. Bearese said the agency conducted an investigation after Berulis raised his concerns but “determined that no breach of agency systems occurred.”

On Tuesday, White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly said in a statement to NPR, “It is months-old news that President Trump signed an Executive Order to hire DOGE employees at agencies and coordinate data sharing. Their highly-qualified team has been extremely public and transparent in its efforts to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse across the Executive Branch, including the NLRB.” Wednesday’s email also referenced an earlier communication to NLRB staff, that “the Agency had no official contact with any DOGE personnel.”

Despite the claims made by agency officials this week, Berulis’ whistleblower disclosure shared with Congress and other federal overseers provides evidence of DOGE’s access and activities, including the creation and deletion of an account in NLRB’s cloud systems called “[email protected].”

Berulis noticed a chunk of data leaving the NLRB NxGen case management system, then a large spike in outbound traffic leaving the network. The NxGen system contains personal information about union members or employees voting to join a union, witness testimony in ongoing cases and trade secrets and proprietary data about companies involved in the agency’s investigations. Access to that data is protected by numerous federal laws, including the Privacy Act.

Several companies run by Elon Musk, the billionaire Trump ally and de facto head of DOGE, have cases before the NLRB — as do Musk’s competitors. His SpaceX company is also part of a lawsuit seeking to have the courts declare the agency’s structure as unconstitutional.

After NPR reported on the whistleblower disclosure, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee called for an investigation into DOGE’s access to the NLRB.

U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., expressed concern that DOGE “may be engaged in technological malfeasance and illegal activity,” in a letter sent to two independent labor watchdogs.

The letter asks the inspectors general to answer a number of questions regarding ways DOGE may have potentially violated federal law, including any NLRB networks DOGE staffers had access to and what records of DOGE’s work within NLRB systems exist.

Berulis’ whistleblower’s disclosure is the latest in a pattern of legal questions around DOGE’s virtually unfettered access to personal and financial data kept in different databases across the federal government, and concerns about what DOGE is doing with that data.

In more than a dozen federal court cases, DOGE and the Trump administration have largely failed to give consistent and clear answers about who has access to the data and how that access complies with privacy and cybersecurity protections in place.

Have information or evidence to share about DOGE’s access to data inside the federal government? Reach out to the author, Jenna McLaughlin, through encrypted communications on Signal at jennamclaughlin.54. Stephen Fowler is available on Signal at stphnfwlr.25. Please use a nonwork device.