Dems are upset about DOGE's IRS hackathon, but the IRS says it never happened
(2025/05/16)
- Reference: 1747418716
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2025/05/16/congress_question_doge_it_overhaul/
- Source link:
Congressional Democrats are again demanding answers from a federal agency over whether DOGE's latest tech makeover could put taxpayer data at risk.
The latest please-explain-this-DOGE-activity letter [1]letter [PDF] landed yesterday on the desk of the Internal Revenue Service's acting inspector general, Heather Hill. It is from Representative Gerry Connolly (D-VA), the ranking member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and [2]perennial [3]DOGE [4]gadfly .
This time, Connolly is demanding answers about a 30-day "hackathon" reportedly launched last month by DOGE staffers embedded at the IRS, in [5]partnership with Palantir . According to an April [6]Wired report citing anonymous sources, the event involved DOGE, Palantir staffers, and IRS engineers in a rushed attempt to overhaul core tax systems.
[7]
For the uninitiated, a hackathon is typically a brief, focused coding sprint - measured in days, not weeks - meant for prototyping, not federal system overhauls. In this case, Wired reported the event was "very unstructured," more strategy free-for-all than software engineering session, with participants brainstorming ways to rewire the IRS's backend through a single API layer.
[8]
[9]
"Existing IRS systems undergo vigorous audits and approvals for privacy, security, and data access controls, a process that a 30-day hackathon cannot adequately cover," Connolly wrote.
But a senior Treasury official denied there was any hackathon at all.
[10]
In a phone conversation with The Register , the official told us that not only was there not a hackathon, but the process - actually a two-day IT roadmapping kickoff - only involved career IRS employees who already have access to the agency's data systems, not members of the cost-cutting unit President Trump asked Elon Musk to oversee.
Palantir is playing a role, the Treasury spokesperson acknowledged, but said it's a limited one that sees the IRS using Palantir software that's already FedRAMP approved for government use to update its procurement system. Again, we're told IRS engineers are doing the bulk of the work, with Palantir engineers contracted to aid in some of the remaining workload. The spokesperson pointed out that Palantir has worked with the IRS for years, including holding contracts with the agency during the Biden administration.
We've reached out to Wired for their take on the IRS's denial, and will update this article if we hear back.
[11]
Connolly's letter didn't just focus on the alleged hackathon, however. He - and the Wired story - also asserted that the effort involves building a so-called "mega API" to stitch together IRS databases, centralize taxpayer data, and potentially "allow IRS systems to interact with unknown cloud services."
He added the "mega API" posed serious privacy questions since it could allow anyone with access "to export all IRS data to the systems of their choosing, including private entities." Connolly further stated that the IRS systems DOGE aims to link were intentionally compartmentalized to reduce security risks.
The Treasury spokesperson didn't deny that the IRS team is working on a unified API layer, but insisted the effort was an essential one to eliminate fragmentation at the agency - a move that will make working with the IRS easier for taxpayers.
Additionally, the spokesperson told us, a unified API layer at the IRS has been an ongoing project for 20 years, and has cost $4 billion despite not delivering on the effort.
Connolly's letter also contended that DOGE's cost-cutting measures have cut [12]$1.5 billion in modernization funds from the IRS' budget, hamstringing efforts already underway to replace legacy systems.
It seems the IRS might have a defense for slashing that funding, though: The Treasury official told us that the IRS' modernization efforts are 30 years behind schedule and $15B over budget, so it's likely trying to throw anything that'll stick to the wall to bring the tax agency into the 21st century.
[13]Downward DOGE: Elon Musk keeps revising cost-trimming goals in a familiar pattern
[14]DOGE may help Elon Musk's biz empire dodge $2.4B in liabilities – Senate probe
[15]GAO finds billions in possible government savings, all without Elon's help
[16]Elon Musk makes another cut – to his time at DOGE
Tech modernization at the IRS is definitely needed - as DOGE's previous work in the agency highlighted, COBOL code is still running on some IRS systems. Despite DOGE's sloppiness possibly being the cause for [17]recent instability in those antiquated systems, modernization that replaces COBOL with something newer definitely wouldn't be amiss.
Regardless, Connolly doesn't think DOGE is the group for the job given its track record.
"DOGE has exfiltrated sensitive data to [18]unvetted artificial intelligence companies , [19]flouted federal data [20]access controls , and exhibited [21]abysmal security practices ," Connolly said. In addition to those examples, we also note that DOGE agents appear to have sloppy [22]personal security hygiene as well, and have also [23]made life harder for the federal government's actual auditing body.
"Carelessness with IRS systems could result in the illegal disclosure of Americans' financial information and delays in tax refunds for hundreds of millions of taxpayers," Connolly added.
The minority Oversight leader has demanded the IRS IG explain what DOGE is doing to IRS software systems, how it's vetting those systems, how it plans to limit access to taxpayer data, and how IRS systems may be [24]connected to those at other agencies like the Department of Homeland Security, and he has demanded answers by May 29 - less than two weeks from now. ®
Get our [25]Tech Resources
[1] https://oversightdemocrats.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/democrats-oversight.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/2025-05-15.gec-to-tigta-re-irs-tech.pdf
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2025/04/18/house_democrats_doge/
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2025/04/17/whistleblower_nlrb_doge/
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2025/05/01/dems_ask_for_musks_financial/
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2025/05/06/palantir_loves_doge/
[6] https://www.wired.com/story/palantir-doge-irs-mega-api-data/?_sp=534eafa3-21e9-49e1-b132-349eaab005c2.1744639584780
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aCe1f7VhSZ2ySD3sB9OdxgAAA1g&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aCe1f7VhSZ2ySD3sB9OdxgAAA1g&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[9] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aCe1f7VhSZ2ySD3sB9OdxgAAA1g&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[10] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aCe1f7VhSZ2ySD3sB9OdxgAAA1g&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[11] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aCe1f7VhSZ2ySD3sB9OdxgAAA1g&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[12] https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-doge-executive-claims-15-billion-savings-irs-technology-budget-2025-03-21/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2025/04/20/musks_doge_promises_fail/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2025/04/28/musk_doge_help_companies/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2025/05/14/billions_in_savings_possible_in/
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2025/04/22/elon_musk_doge/
[17] https://www.theregister.com/2025/04/09/social_security_website/
[18] https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/13/democrat_letter_doge_ai_use/
[19] https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/25/doge_cannot_access_pii/
[20] https://www.theregister.com/2025/04/15/doges_access_to_treasury_systems/
[21] https://www.theregister.com/2025/02/06/democrats_opm_server/
[22] https://www.theregister.com/2025/05/12/doge_cyber_experts_creds_found/
[23] https://www.theregister.com/2025/04/30/doge_goa_probe/
[24] https://apnews.com/article/irs-ice-tax-data-deportations-federal-judge-fd696d215843bdc16260dfad471f500d
[25] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
The latest please-explain-this-DOGE-activity letter [1]letter [PDF] landed yesterday on the desk of the Internal Revenue Service's acting inspector general, Heather Hill. It is from Representative Gerry Connolly (D-VA), the ranking member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and [2]perennial [3]DOGE [4]gadfly .
This time, Connolly is demanding answers about a 30-day "hackathon" reportedly launched last month by DOGE staffers embedded at the IRS, in [5]partnership with Palantir . According to an April [6]Wired report citing anonymous sources, the event involved DOGE, Palantir staffers, and IRS engineers in a rushed attempt to overhaul core tax systems.
[7]
For the uninitiated, a hackathon is typically a brief, focused coding sprint - measured in days, not weeks - meant for prototyping, not federal system overhauls. In this case, Wired reported the event was "very unstructured," more strategy free-for-all than software engineering session, with participants brainstorming ways to rewire the IRS's backend through a single API layer.
[8]
[9]
"Existing IRS systems undergo vigorous audits and approvals for privacy, security, and data access controls, a process that a 30-day hackathon cannot adequately cover," Connolly wrote.
But a senior Treasury official denied there was any hackathon at all.
[10]
In a phone conversation with The Register , the official told us that not only was there not a hackathon, but the process - actually a two-day IT roadmapping kickoff - only involved career IRS employees who already have access to the agency's data systems, not members of the cost-cutting unit President Trump asked Elon Musk to oversee.
Palantir is playing a role, the Treasury spokesperson acknowledged, but said it's a limited one that sees the IRS using Palantir software that's already FedRAMP approved for government use to update its procurement system. Again, we're told IRS engineers are doing the bulk of the work, with Palantir engineers contracted to aid in some of the remaining workload. The spokesperson pointed out that Palantir has worked with the IRS for years, including holding contracts with the agency during the Biden administration.
We've reached out to Wired for their take on the IRS's denial, and will update this article if we hear back.
[11]
Connolly's letter didn't just focus on the alleged hackathon, however. He - and the Wired story - also asserted that the effort involves building a so-called "mega API" to stitch together IRS databases, centralize taxpayer data, and potentially "allow IRS systems to interact with unknown cloud services."
He added the "mega API" posed serious privacy questions since it could allow anyone with access "to export all IRS data to the systems of their choosing, including private entities." Connolly further stated that the IRS systems DOGE aims to link were intentionally compartmentalized to reduce security risks.
The Treasury spokesperson didn't deny that the IRS team is working on a unified API layer, but insisted the effort was an essential one to eliminate fragmentation at the agency - a move that will make working with the IRS easier for taxpayers.
Additionally, the spokesperson told us, a unified API layer at the IRS has been an ongoing project for 20 years, and has cost $4 billion despite not delivering on the effort.
Connolly's letter also contended that DOGE's cost-cutting measures have cut [12]$1.5 billion in modernization funds from the IRS' budget, hamstringing efforts already underway to replace legacy systems.
It seems the IRS might have a defense for slashing that funding, though: The Treasury official told us that the IRS' modernization efforts are 30 years behind schedule and $15B over budget, so it's likely trying to throw anything that'll stick to the wall to bring the tax agency into the 21st century.
[13]Downward DOGE: Elon Musk keeps revising cost-trimming goals in a familiar pattern
[14]DOGE may help Elon Musk's biz empire dodge $2.4B in liabilities – Senate probe
[15]GAO finds billions in possible government savings, all without Elon's help
[16]Elon Musk makes another cut – to his time at DOGE
Tech modernization at the IRS is definitely needed - as DOGE's previous work in the agency highlighted, COBOL code is still running on some IRS systems. Despite DOGE's sloppiness possibly being the cause for [17]recent instability in those antiquated systems, modernization that replaces COBOL with something newer definitely wouldn't be amiss.
Regardless, Connolly doesn't think DOGE is the group for the job given its track record.
"DOGE has exfiltrated sensitive data to [18]unvetted artificial intelligence companies , [19]flouted federal data [20]access controls , and exhibited [21]abysmal security practices ," Connolly said. In addition to those examples, we also note that DOGE agents appear to have sloppy [22]personal security hygiene as well, and have also [23]made life harder for the federal government's actual auditing body.
"Carelessness with IRS systems could result in the illegal disclosure of Americans' financial information and delays in tax refunds for hundreds of millions of taxpayers," Connolly added.
The minority Oversight leader has demanded the IRS IG explain what DOGE is doing to IRS software systems, how it's vetting those systems, how it plans to limit access to taxpayer data, and how IRS systems may be [24]connected to those at other agencies like the Department of Homeland Security, and he has demanded answers by May 29 - less than two weeks from now. ®
Get our [25]Tech Resources
[1] https://oversightdemocrats.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/democrats-oversight.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/2025-05-15.gec-to-tigta-re-irs-tech.pdf
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2025/04/18/house_democrats_doge/
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2025/04/17/whistleblower_nlrb_doge/
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2025/05/01/dems_ask_for_musks_financial/
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2025/05/06/palantir_loves_doge/
[6] https://www.wired.com/story/palantir-doge-irs-mega-api-data/?_sp=534eafa3-21e9-49e1-b132-349eaab005c2.1744639584780
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aCe1f7VhSZ2ySD3sB9OdxgAAA1g&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aCe1f7VhSZ2ySD3sB9OdxgAAA1g&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
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[10] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aCe1f7VhSZ2ySD3sB9OdxgAAA1g&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[11] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aCe1f7VhSZ2ySD3sB9OdxgAAA1g&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[12] https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-doge-executive-claims-15-billion-savings-irs-technology-budget-2025-03-21/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2025/04/20/musks_doge_promises_fail/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2025/04/28/musk_doge_help_companies/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2025/05/14/billions_in_savings_possible_in/
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2025/04/22/elon_musk_doge/
[17] https://www.theregister.com/2025/04/09/social_security_website/
[18] https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/13/democrat_letter_doge_ai_use/
[19] https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/25/doge_cannot_access_pii/
[20] https://www.theregister.com/2025/04/15/doges_access_to_treasury_systems/
[21] https://www.theregister.com/2025/02/06/democrats_opm_server/
[22] https://www.theregister.com/2025/05/12/doge_cyber_experts_creds_found/
[23] https://www.theregister.com/2025/04/30/doge_goa_probe/
[24] https://apnews.com/article/irs-ice-tax-data-deportations-federal-judge-fd696d215843bdc16260dfad471f500d
[25] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
The Dems are crazy about Trump
Ghostman
Given that the dems keep believing the parade honoring the US Army's 250th birthday is actually a birthday party planned for Trump, even though it was planned during the Biden admin, and given links to show that. They also keep complaining about the tanks destroying the roads in DC, even though no tanks are in the scheduled events.
Put a reference to Trump in there, and they go batexcrement crazy. We've thought about doing an article on how Trump thinks breathing fresh air is beneficial to health. Then watching to see how many dems try to hold their breath.
Re: The Dems are crazy about Trump
DS999
There was a parade planned, not tanks running down the street causing millions in damage to the pavement. Trump has greatly expanded it and the reason is solely about his own birthday and outsized ego. If his birthday was on November 11th he'd be planning some huge parade for Veteran's Day.
Re: The Dems are crazy about Trump
elsergiovolador
Putin probably told him that parade a year fixes erectile dysfunction.
Re: The Dems are crazy about Trump
elsergiovolador
Trump is a Russian asset. Throwing US Army parade for his birthday is a peak defeat of the once mighty US. Putin probably will die of laughter.
Dispatches from the Age of Extinguishment pt ∞
Wang Cores
Honestly, who gets a hair up their ass and decides to spend time to defend the IRS (a deeply unpopular institution), while Trump cronies are threatening to strip birthright citizenship from Americans and are pump-and-dumping the entire U.S. economy? Unless you're trying to fill out your timecard without doing anything.
Nothing to see here
Omnipresent
Big Balls has already sold everyone to russia.
Given that Trump's DOJ is cracking down hard on whistleblowing
It is difficult to accept any answer they give as there are less likely to be any whistleblowers willing to come forward and dispute their claims. That's why whistleblowers need to be protected, not prosecuted - they are a vital requirement for the citizens to be able to believe what their government is telling them.