“Government Efficiency,” a program created by Donald Trump, known as Doge and billionaire Elon Musk, is a sensitive system of multiple health agencies as the US president tries to grant the committee’s cleaning rights. Access or request access to the system. Federal government.
Bidding for access comes amid unprecedented efforts to halt government spending despite multiple court orders to lift funds and reverse staff suspensions.
Thousands of people were fired from health agencies on Friday after the Trump administration announced plans to fire almost every probation employee.
“The possibility of harm is important,” said Scott Corey, former chief information officer for an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Health agencies maintain strictly controlled databases with sensitive information, and the turbulence of these agencies threatens the US health system as the threat of infections like avian flu continues to rise. It’s there.
“The possibility of new outbreaks and public health events is certain to be related to the recent spread of avian flu, which is still hampered by slow responses,” said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The employee requested anonymity, which stated. They were not allowed to talk about the records.
“With reduced external communications, large work stop orders, dramatic changes to the federal workforce, health agencies have severely limited capabilities, and ultimately those who have chosen to benefit from suffering It’s useless to anyone else,” the employee said.
Trump has sought to grant Doge the power to reduce the federal workforce with a new executive order signed Tuesday despite lawsuits from the union over Doge Access.
Approximately 5,200 people from the health agency reportedly received layoff notifications on Friday.
About 1,250 of them worked for the CDC, according to sources who requested anonymity because they were not allowed to speak publicly.
This included high-ranking officials of the CDC’s prevalent intelligence agency officers known as “disease detectives” and the entire first year class.
Other high-ranking officials have also been targeted for layoffs, with employees preparing for more major layoffs in the coming days, sources say. Several contractors also reported being fired this week.
Probation employees include staff who do not provide full-time (usually 1-2 years) services needed to obtain civil service protection in positions. This applies to senior officials who have recently changed positions.
Staff from some health agencies, including the HHS and CDC, may be able to receive internal emails and messages through requests or searches from people who have accessed these systems, for fear of attracting attention through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). It has been reported that they have been instructed not to talk about Doge. .
“I’ve never seen this all the time I was in the federal government,” said a CDC employee. “It’s just a complete upheaval.”
Doge representatives were able to access the CDC’s Atlanta office last week, according to sources who requested anonymity.
According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, officials from Doge have also gained access to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) payment and contract systems.
Musk, an unpaid “special government employee” who leads Doge, appeared to be checking out a search for potential fraud in CMS Access and Medicare payment systems. February.
Medicare fraud has long been the focus of careful investigations, with 193 healthcare professionals arrested in June on charges related to $2.755 billion on suspicion of medical fraud under the Biden administration .
However, with the Trump administration already providing it with foreign aid and federal grants and loans, halting payments already approved by Congress is an unprecedented move.
Representatives from Doge also seek access to an HHS payment system that processes billions of dollars in medical funds, and at least some of them, reported the Washington Post.
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HHS did not respond to the Guardian media investigations on a per-report time basis.
One of the systems requested, the Healthcare Integrated General Ledger accounting system, contains financial information about all hospitals, physicians and other health organizations participating in federal programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, and Affordable Care Act. It’s here.
Access requires training in Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). It is not clear whether the Doge representatives have received this training.
Doge officials reportedly also gained widespread access in the Treasury Department.
According to CDC employees, Musk’s “unclear role” in committees not approved by Congress is that “there are legal rules that are in place that the federal government no longer applies.” It’s a big signal.”
“An aggressive acquisition of masks for many sensitive data systems, including those from CMS and the Ministry of Finance, should be relevant to everyone,” the employee continued. “Access to all this data is not just a security risk, but I don’t understand the abusive potential of having such data.”
Armed with these systems and data, the Trump administration could dismantle medical assistance for Americans and punish states or groups that refuse to align with the administration’s priorities, the employee said. .
Interference with the systems that health agencies use to process payments can threaten the lives of those who rely on funds, Corey said.
There are also privacy concerns.
Sensitive data running through these systems into individual bank accounts is “a lot” in individual bank accounts, including personally identifiable information about individuals receiving government benefits, such as Social Security. Corey said.
Information is not normally stored in a payment system, but “probably you can move backwards from that system to the system that holds and maintains that information,” Corey said. “And that’s what makes me scared.”
No one has access to this whole system, Corey said. Even small changes are big deals and need extensive testing before they can be deployed.
However, he said the legal impact on illegal access and activities in the federal system is limited.
“There are relatively few restrictions on bad actors doing bad things that are inside the system,” Corey said.
Data collected by agents play a key role in keeping Americans safe. Especially in continuous outbreaks like avian flu, Corey said:
