U.S. Sen. Jack Reed has joined four other Democratic senators in asking questions about the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)’s recent activities in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
“We understand that personnel reporting to Mr. Musk have recently visited VA facilities,” the senators wrote in a letter Tuesday to the department’s Secretary Doug Collins. “Senators, veterans, and members of the public have serious concerns regarding Mr. Musk’s extraordinary and unprecedented activities and the lack of transparency surrounding them, including his potential access to and handling of sensitive or personal information.”
The letter was published by the office of Sen. Jon Ossoff, the ranking member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs. Reed and Ossoff, along with Appropriations Committee Vice Chair Patty Murray of Washington, Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico and Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan signed the letter, which expresses concern that DOGE has gained access to veterans’ private information like service or health records.
The senators based their queries on a Feb. 5 Military.com article quoting a VA spokesperson who said there was “a single DOGE employee who is ‘specifically focused on identifying wasteful contracts, improving VA operations and strengthening management of the department’s IT projects.’”
The senators asked for a list of DOGE personnel who have visited VA facilities, which databases were accessed, and whether DOGE staffers viewed or analyzed veterans’ medical or service records. Also in the requested paper trail are any memorandums between DOGE and the VA, any interviews that may have been conducted between the departments and whether any data was downloaded or copied, and if any non-government computers were used for DOGE work on the VA systems.
The cabinet-level VA opened in 1930 after several predecessor departments found difficulty in managing post-combat benefits for soldiers returning from World War I.
Today, the VA office continues to help soldiers in their return to civilian life, with services that include health care, housing, disability compensation and pension assistance.
Reed is a veteran, having graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1971 before serving in the U.S. Army as an active officer in 1979. He served in the reserves until 1991. Reed chairs the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services.
This article was originally published by the Rhode Island Current.
