Today, Rep. Gerald E. Connolly, Ranking Member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, sent a letter to Luiz A. Santos, Acting Inspector General at the Department of Labor (DOL), and Ruth Blevins, Inspector General at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), demanding they immediately investigate the work Elon Musk’s DOGE team may have performed at their organizations, including any and all attempts to exfiltrate nonpublic data from NLRB and DOL and any attempts to cover up their activities.
“I write regarding developments that Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) employees may be engaged in technological malfeasance and illegal activity at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and the Department of Labor (DOL). According to NPR and whistleblower disclosures obtained by Committee Democrats, individuals associated with DOGE have attempted to exfiltrate and alter data while also using high-level systems access to remove sensitive information—quite possibly including corporate secrets and details of union activities. I also understand that these individuals have attempted to conceal their activities, obstruct oversight, and shield themselves from accountability,” wrote Ranking Member Connolly. “President Trump has repeatedly stated that DOGE is led by Elon Musk, and that Mr. Musk’s power at DOGE is expansive. Mr. Musk’s companies face a series of enforcement actions from NLRB and DOL, creating an inherent conflict of interest for him to direct any work at either agency—let alone benefit from stolen nonpublic information. As ranking member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, I ask that you report to Congress the nature of the work the DOGE team has performed at NLRB and DOL, including any and all attempts to exfiltrate data and any attempts to cover up their activities.”
DOL and NLRB play critical roles in holding companies accountable for unfair management practices and unsafe working conditions. DOL includes the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which oversees workplace safety standards, and NLRB is an independent federal agency tasked with safeguarding employees’ rights to organize and preventing unfair labor practices.
Mr. Musk’s business ventures have repeatedly resisted labor protections, endangering employees and retaliating against anyone who has voiced dissent. Worker safety and labor violations across Mr. Musk’s companies SpaceX, Tesla, and X have proliferated as federal enforcement bodies struggle to keep up.
When President Trump took office, DOL’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), which is now headed by one of Mr. Musks’s lawyers, was auditing a Telsa plant that had previously been sued for alleged “widespread and ongoing racial harassment of its Black employees.” That investigation was halted when President Trump essentially shut down OFCCP.
Furthermore, NLRB has taken action against Tesla for the car company’s attempts to discourage unionizing efforts, part of Musk’s ongoing anti-union actions.
Recent public reports indicate that not only have DOGE engineers accessed sensitive information that may relate to NLRB or DOL actions against Musk companies, but these DOGE engineers sent that information to external sources and reportedly then used sophisticated tools and administrative access to information technology (IT) systems to cover their tracks and clear all logs and records of their actions.
“These cases raise serious concerns about Mr. Musk or anyone associated with DOGE having access to NLRB or DOL, as any such access poses serious conflicts of interest,” wrote Ranking Member Connolly.
Ranking Member Connolly asked that DOL Acting Inspector General Luiz A. Santos and NLRB Inspector General Ruth Blevins respond to questions and information requests by April 29, 2025.
Click here to read the letter to DOL Acting Inspector General Luiz A. Santos and NLRB Inspector General Ruth Blevins.
