The concurrent mass layoffs of government workers potentially leave fewer trained hands available to safeguard the records. Some security experts warn that outside hackers could exploit the situation to access the data for their own nefarious use.

Yet another top career staffer is leaving the administration amid a disagreement over a request by Elon Musk’s team for sensitive government information.

While DOGE says it needs taxpayer data to search out "waste, fraud, and abuse," such a move puts at risk personal information on more than 150 million tax filers.