DOGE Operations Spark Concern Among Pitt-Greensburg’s Political Science Community

Countless controversies have recently overtaken the United States over the past few weeks, as President Donald Trump has been authorizing and overturning many executive orders and actions which greatly impact the country. One such authorization the president has made is giving Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) access to the nation’s treasury system.

As of last week, Elon Musk and DOGE have gained access to private records and documents within the U.S. Treasury Department. More specifically, Musk can now view the occurrences in the treasury payment system. This indicates that he and DOGE are able to see private information such as most U.S. citizens’ Social Security Numbers and Medicare benefit records.

Such a sudden and unexpected development within the country’s government has alerted many people in the political science department at the University of Pitt-Greensburg.

One such person is Associate Professor Dr. Paul Adams. Dr. Adams says he is hugely concerned with the nature of Musk’s recently gained power and ponders about whether or not the law permits such actions.

“Elon Musk has been given unprecedented, and likely illegal, access to government documents, databases, and personal information,” he said.

Political Science Junior Isaac Stephens claims that he is also worried about the seemingly illegitimate reasoning behind DOGE gaining power over such private information.

“There doesn’t seem to be much of an understanding of why he [Musk] needs access to the treasury department payment records. DOGE is interested in looking for governmental inconsistencies and redundant payments, but the lack of clarity is worrisome,” he said.

Dr. Adams seems to think that there is no acceptable excuse as to why Elon Musk and DOGE should be allowed to be given any amount of authority over government functions. 

“Musk holds no elected office and no official position in the U.S. government and even the president cannot authorize such powers to a private citizen under U.S. law,” he said.

Stephens thinks financial wealth and superiority is a major influencer in private governmental affairs. This especially applies to Elon Musk and his control over DOGE and treasury records, though Stephens says the exact reason for it is, at best, unclear.

“The nature of our government is that those with large amounts of money typically have more influence over policy. I think that a new department of government should be led by someone with direct political experience, rather than the largest amount of wealth in the world. I don’t see the reasoning in giving Musk such a large amount of political influence,” he said. 

Dr. Adams seems to be in agreement with Stephens about the ambiguity behind Elon Musk’s permitted power and abilities in the government. In addition to that, he argues that Musk and DOGE cannot hold any amount of influence over civic operations.

“The people working with Musk have no clearances, experience, or standing with the federal government and I would argue committed felonies by accessing government computers and databases without proper authorization,” he said. 

Stephens says that while it is likely that the exchanges between Elon Musk and the federal government will not directly affect the campus of Pitt-Greensburg, the influence of DOGE on the student loan system may pose some cause for concern.

“I doubt that Musk will have any direct impact on our college campus, but it’s impossible to know for sure. DOGE has increasing interest in the Education Department, which in turn means FAFSA information for millions of college students. I have faith in our system of checks and balances, yet am quite skeptical,” he said.

If you have any questions or thoughts about politics you would like to share with Isaac Stephens, he can be found at ids15@pitt.edu. If you would like to talk to Dr. Adams, he can be reached at padams@pitt.edu.