Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has been blamed for a “significant cybersecurity breach” that may have put sensitive U.S. labor data at risk, according to multiple reports.
Daniel Berulis, an IT staffer at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), testified in a sworn affidavit that the DOGE team was given sweeping access to the agency’s systems. He offered evidence that DOGE exported large amounts of data from the agency’s systems, risking a breach by foreign adversaries in the process.
Berulis’ lawyer, who shared his disclosure with the Senate, claims that he was threatened with a note taped to his door that included photos of him apparently taken by a drone.
In his disclosure, Berulis said he became concerned when he saw peculiar spikes in data leaving the agency after DOGE staffers—who insisted that their actions not be tracked in the system—gained access. He also observed suspicious log-in attempts from an IP address in Russia using DOGE’s new accounts.
The NLRB is an independent federal agency born out of the New Deal that protects the labor rights of private sector employees. It investigates and resolves disputes involving workers, companies, and unions.
Berulis told Reuters that because his agency handles case files about labor disputes, the data at risk includes proprietary business information, details about unions, and affidavits from legal cases. Labor experts told NPR that the data could be used by private companies—including those owned by Musk—to gain a competitive advantage.
“I can’t attest to what their end goal was or what they’re doing with the data,” Berulis told NPR. “But I can tell you that the bits of the puzzle that I can quantify are scary. … This is a very bad picture we’re looking at.”
Berulis said he believes the incident should be investigated by authorities, such as Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency or the FBI.
In a statement to NPR, a representative for the NLRB, Tim Bearese, denied that DOGE had requested or been granted access to the agency’s systems. He said that after Berulis raised concerns, there was an investigation that “determined that no breach of agency systems occurred.”
In a statement to the Daily Beast, the White House seemed to contradict this account and concede that DOGE had accessed NLRB data.
“It is months-old news that President Trump signed an Executive Order to hire DOGE employees at agencies and coordinate data sharing,” spokesperson Anna Kelly said. “Their highly-qualified team has been extremely public and transparent in its efforts to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse across the Executive Branch, including the NLRB.”
Musk is currently embroiled in a legal battle with the NLRB over the agency’s ability to enforce labor law. Attorneys for Musk’s SpaceX argued before a court in November that the NLRB’s structure is unconstitutional.
A ruling against the agency could severely diminish its power.
The legal battle began after the NLRB after accused SpaceX of illegally firing employees who had publicly criticized Musk.
The nonprofit Whistleblower Aid, which is representing Berulis legally, passed along his sworn disclosure in a letter to Sens. Tom Cotton and Mark Warner, the top Republican and Democrat on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, respectively. It asked the committee to probe the matter.
The letter describes DOGE’s actions as possibly constituting a “significant cybersecurity breach that likely has and continues to expose our government to foreign intelligence and our nation’s adversaries.”
It also claims that ”someone physically taped a threatening note to Mr. Berulis’ home door with photographs – taken via a drone – of him walking in his neighborhood” as he prepared to make his disclosure. The note, which Berulis declined to share with Reuters, specifically referenced the impending disclosure, the letter says.
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