House Democrats on the Homeland Security Committee are asking the Government Accountability Office (GAO) for an accounting of the Department of Government Efficiency\u2019s (DOGE) impact at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).<\/p>\n
\u201cSince hijacking the U.S. Digital Service to establish DOGE, Elon Musk\u2019s unqualified staff have fanned out across the Federal government. They have embedded themselves within departments and agencies, including DHS, to seize sensitive data, purge civil servants, and gut programs with no regard to the critical services they provide everyday Americans,\u201d Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) wrote in the lawmakers’ letter, which was also signed by Democratic Reps Eric Swalwell (Calif.), Seth Magaziner (R.I.), Shri Thanedar (Mich.), LaMonica McIver (N.J.), Lou Correa (Calif.) and Timothy Kennedy (N.Y.).<\/p>\n
The lawmakers seek to ascertain the total number of DHS employees who departed as a result of DOGE, whether through a buyout ignited by DOGE leader Musk or a separate demand from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to fire probationary employees hired within the last year or two.<\/p>\n
The letter asks the GAO to \u201cassess the legality of any guidance provided to DHS by DOGE\u201d on which probationary employees to fire.<\/p>\n
It also asks for a breakdown of the data on terminations for each agency within DHS and \u201cthe resulting impact on the Department\u2019s ability to conduct its mission.\u201d<\/p>\n