Senate Democrats demanded responses from the Department of Education on Thursday on the scope of Elon Musk’s data collection efforts in the agency, which seems to be a focus of the Trump administration cost reduction initiative.
The letter, of a coalition of 15 legislators, reflected a growing concern for the aggressive incursions that the members of the so -called Efficiency Department of Mr. Musk have become a variety of federal agencies, including the Department of Education.
It occurred when the White House has been discussing the possibility of issuing an executive order to effectively close the Department of Education, according to people familiar with conversations.
Senators Elizabeth Warren by Massachusetts; Chuck Schumer from New York, the minority leader; And Chris van Hollen de Maryland was among those who urged clarity about whether Mr. Musk’s teams had sought confidential data about students. This information could be as granular as the demographic, financial and family details given what the department usually collects in their work to disburse the help of students.
“The efforts to abolish the department have caused fear and uncertainty for students, families and teachers from all over the country who trust the Critical Financial Aid, loans, subsidies and other assistance agency,” said the letter. “The millions of families who trust ED to help them achieve the American dream deserve answers about the reports that an un chosen billionaire and their team now have access to some of their most sensitive personal information.”
In a series of personnel meetings this week, those appointed President Trump told Department that more than a dozen members of Mr. Musk’s team have been working on the site to analyze the finances of the department and recommend cuts, according to the recordings obtained by the New York Times.
“He probably knows that Dege, the Doge team, is, like the other federal departments, here he is working on the promise of President Trump to the US people to reform the federal bureaucracy, so we will increase the efficiencies in OCR and ED in General, “an official told the staff on Tuesday at the Office of the Department of Civil Rights.
The legislators raised concerns in their letter that Mr. Musk’s team, during their efforts, may have scrape confidential personal data that students and families routinely provide the department to request help to pay the university, or to present complaints Confidential against their schools.
Similar concerns about privileged data that are indiscriminately collected in other agencies, including the Department of Treasury, have generated unions demands and a coalition of state general prosecutors.
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