As President Donald Trump announced that billionaires will be considering the agency in close proximity, members of Elon Musk’s government efficiency team have obtained an “administrator” email account at the Department of Education.
The rapid deployment of mask aides across multiple agencies has led to concerns from federal officials, lawmakers and watchdog groups that his team has gained access to confidential information and is leading the purging of government workers. I’ve raised it.
When NBC News asked Trump at a White House press conference on Friday about allegations that masks and Kudji’s widespread staff cuts could be illegal, Trump defended the approach, saying that education departments said masks It was pointed out that it was high on the target list. “He’s going to be looking at education pretty quickly,” Trump said.
NBC News confirmed that Akash Bobba and Ethan Shaotran, identified as members of Doge at the age of 22, have administrator-level status in the department’s email system and may have access to sensitive information. Two sources currently employed in the sector said Shaotran visited the backend of the Ed.gov website on Friday.
Three employees in the department emphasized that it is very rare for anyone from other government agencies to receive ED.GOV emails. The Ministry of Education did not respond to a request for comment Friday.
There is a lot of tension in the education sector, and leadership said earlier this week that staff members receiving the postponed resignation package offered to much of the federal workforce will waive their right to suit if the government fails to support the offer. It has been announced. The employee union urged them not to make a deal and worried that it would “esquely resemble the situation on Twitter” during the Mask acquisition.
One longtime employee of the Ministry of Education spoke on condition of anonymity to explain internal sentiment. As Doge sets his eyesight, he said urgent and deep concerns are spreading across the agency’s career staff.
The person said Musk and his team target Americans, oust career employees, and thwart federal lending capabilities, and Musk and his team have information from the national student loan database. He said he is particularly concerned about using.
The New York Times reported that as many as 16 DOGE team members are listed in the Education Department’s Directory, and according to the Washington Post, they supply the department’s confidential and financial data to artificial intelligence software.
On Friday morning, a House Democrat group tried to enter the Department of Education headquarters for 95 people to meet with Deputy Secretary Dennis Carter. The representative was stopped by security and refused to enter, causing a scene that was confusing as lawmakers sought to join.
“They are preventing members of Congress from entering the Department of Education! Can Elon enter, not people? D-Fla, posted on X, previously known as Twitter. Rep. Maxwell Frost.
Also on Friday, WatchDog Group civics sued the department on behalf of the University of California Student Association, a group of student government representatives, to ensure Doge staff would access “delicate personal and financial information.” They are seeking an injunction to block it. The lawsuit says it reports that individuals affiliated with Doge have access to the department’s internal systems that contain federal student aid information.
“The scale of invasions into personal privacy is enormous and unprecedented,” the lawsuit states. “These systems contain over 42 million personal data.”
This week, a new memo that came out across the department in addition to Bedlam called for a fundamental review of all grants that promote the “Promote or Participate Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” initiative. A memo obtained by NBC News states that the goal is rooted in “discriminatory practices that violate legal or sectoral policy goals – including the form of DEI.”
It is not uncommon for a new administration to prioritize how billions of dollars of grants will be released. What is unusual and could lead to a torrent of legal challenges is the possibility of reopening grants already awarded, a former higher education official said. Legal implications aside, officials said abrupt cancellation of grants could cause significant disruption in communities that rely on more teachers and private tutors and other resources . Long-standing federal grants also fund magnet schools if they demonstrate that schools are planning to separate.
Currently, department officials are still unclear as to how the administration interprets DEI, for example, including services for students with disabilities or whether they are learning English as a second language. It states.
“I don’t know how to eliminate DEI without attacking the special needs program,” the current administrative authorities said.
Madison Biederman, a spokesman for the Education Division, said the review was to ensure that the Grant program is compliant with Civil Rights Act.
“The department administers key grant programs that Congress has established to support schools that serve certain groups, and that these grants are in line with administrative priorities while serving certain groups. We will be careful with the review to confirm the results,” Biederman said.
The rapid change clip outweighs the department’s leadership verification process.
Trump’s Secretary of Education candidate Linda McMahon is scheduled to appear at a confirmation hearing on February 13th before the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. Policy Research Institute, a think tank located at 4-year-old Trump. The four senior officials who had already been appointed to the education division worked for think tanks.
A military veteran, a current official from the Department of Education, described scenes of confusion and morale as Trump and Musk portray federal workers as lazy. Others are digging their heels because they feel like they’re being bullied.
“There are people who are panicking. They are eligible for retirement and are still “I’m not going anywhere. I’m not going to voluntarily succumb to pressure and threats.” That’s all. ”
Since Trump took office, the department has already demonstrated a significant shift in priorities.
Earlier this week, they announced plans to launch a Title IX investigation into two universities and one athletic association that violated an executive order banning transgender women from participating in sports, and began an investigation into Denver Public Schools. did. Something neutral. The department said it would return to implementing Title IX regulations imposed during the first Trump administration, rather than Biden-era rules. They also cancelled 11 surveys of school districts regarding the ban on books. This was opened up due to complaints that the school targeted titles by LGBTQ authors and people of color, calling the complaint a “hoax.”
Department staff this week received an order to ensure that email signature blocks do not include “unrelated information such as gender identification, motivational quotes, and GIFs.” The email was marked “high importance.”
