Senate Democrats demanded answers from the Education Department on Thursday about the scope of Elon Musk's data collection efforts at the agency, which appears to be a focus of the Trump administration's cost-cutting initiative.
The letter, by a coalition of 15 lawmakers, reflected growing concern about the aggressive incursions that members of Musk's so-called Department of Government Efficiency have made into an array of federal agencies, including the Education Department.
It came as the White House has been discussing the possibility of issuing an executive order to effectively shut down the Education Department, according to people familiar with the conversations.
Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts; Chuck Schumer of New York, the minority leader; and Chris Van Hollen of Maryland were among those urging for clarity on whether members of Musk's team had sought confidential data on students. Such information could be as granular as demographic, financial and family details given what the department routinely collects in its work to disburse student aid.
"Efforts to abolish the department have sparked fear and uncertainty for students, families, and teachers across the country who rely on the agency for critical financial aid, loans, grants, and other assistance," the letter said. "The millions of families who rely on ED to help them achieve the American dream deserve answers about reports that an unelected billionaire and his team now have access to some of their most sensitive personal information."
In a series of staff meetings this week, President Donald Trump's appointees told department officials that more than a dozen members of Musk's team have been working on site to scrutinize the department's finances and recommend cuts, according to recordings obtained by The New York Times.
"You probably know that DOGE -- the DOGE team -- is, like the other federal departments, is here working on President Trump's promise to the American people to reform the federal bureaucracy, so we're going to increase efficiencies in OCR and Ed generally," an official told staff Tuesday in the department's Office for Civil Rights.
Lawmakers raised concerns in their letter that Musk's team, over the course of its efforts, may have scraped sensitive personal data that students and families routinely provide to the department to apply for aid to pay for college, or to file confidential complaints against their schools.
Similar concerns about privileged data being indiscriminately collected at other agencies, including the Treasury Department, have spawned lawsuits from labor unions and a coalition of state attorneys general.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
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It came as the White House has been discussing the possibility of issuing an executive order to effectively shut down the Education Department, according to people familiar with the conversations.
Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts; Chuck Schumer of New York, the minority leader; and Chris Van Hollen of Maryland were among those urging for clarity on whether members of Musk's team had sought confidential data on students. Such information could be as granular as demographic, financial and family details given what the department routinely collects in its work to disburse student aid.
"Efforts to abolish the department have sparked fear and uncertainty for students, families, and teachers across the country who rely on the agency for critical financial aid, loans, grants, and other assistance," the letter said. "The millions of families who rely on ED to help them achieve the American dream deserve answers about reports that an unelected billionaire and his team now have access to some of their most sensitive personal information."
In a series of staff meetings this week, President Donald Trump's appointees told department officials that more than a dozen members of Musk's team have been working on site to scrutinize the department's finances and recommend cuts, according to recordings obtained by The New York Times.
"You probably know that DOGE -- the DOGE team -- is, like the other federal departments, is here working on President Trump's promise to the American people to reform the federal bureaucracy, so we're going to increase efficiencies in OCR and Ed generally," an official told staff Tuesday in the department's Office for Civil Rights.
Lawmakers raised concerns in their letter that Musk's team, over the course of its efforts, may have scraped sensitive personal data that students and families routinely provide to the department to apply for aid to pay for college, or to file confidential complaints against their schools.
Similar concerns about privileged data being indiscriminately collected at other agencies, including the Treasury Department, have spawned lawsuits from labor unions and a coalition of state attorneys general.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
