DOGE Descends on the IRS as Musk Prepares to Audit the Agency
Elon Musk aide Kavin Kliger visited the DC offices of the IRS to examine its systems, according to the Wall Street Journal, which noted that Kliger has been working at the Office of Personnel Management.
Later in the day, Trump announced that DOGE would audit the nation's tax collection agency.
"The Internal Revenue Service will be looked at like everybody else," Trump told reporters during a White House press briefing.
"They’re doing a hell of a job. It’s an amazing job they’re doing," Trump said of Musk and DOGE. "I call it the force of super-geniuses, but it’s building, and you know they go up, and they talk to some of the people about certain deals, and they get all tongue-tied because these people get it. They’re very smart people. We need smart people."
Trump was responding to a question about Kliger's visit to the IRS and whether the administration wants to close the agency - to which Trump said he did not expect that to be the case.
Democrats Freak Out (again)
Of course, no investigation into waste, fraud, and abuse would be complete without Democrats for some reason having a huge problem.
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) posted on X that his office heard Musk's team was at the IRS.
"That means Musk’s henchmen are in a position to dig through a trove of data about every taxpayer in America. And if your refund is delayed, they could very well be the reason."
NEW: My office is hearing that DOGE is now at the IRS. That means Musk's henchmen are in a position to dig through a trove of data about every taxpayer in America. And if your refund is delayed, they could very well be the reason.
— Ron Wyden (@RonWyden) February 13, 2025
Yes, henchmen. Fraud-investigating henchmen.
As the Epoch Times notes further, after DOGE accessed U.S. Department of Treasury payment systems earlier in the year, a group of Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives wrote to the acting IRS commissioner asking what confidential information DOGE had requested from the IRS and how many taxpayers had had their confidential information accessed by DOGE.
Separately on Thursday, senior IRS executives were instructed to identify all contracts that were nonessential for termination, according to an internal email.
The email said that the General Services Administration (GSA), which manages most government contracts, is demanding they review consulting contracts under their purview and determine whether they can be justified.
The GSA deems a contract nonessential if it “merely generates a report, research, coaching, or an artifact,” the email says. “Consistent with the goals and directives of the Trump administration to eliminate waste, reduce spending, and increase efficiency, GSA has taken the first steps in a government-wide initiative to eliminate non-essential consulting contracts.”
