Source: United States Senator for Rhode Island Jack Reed
WASHINGTON, DC — U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Jack Reed (D-RI), and Ron Wyden (D-OR) sent a letter to the Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Government Ethics (OGE), and Inspector Generals at the Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) urging their offices to investigate whether Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) employees broke the law by working to dismantle government agencies while holding hundreds of thousands of dollars in private companies. The lawmakers are Ranking Members of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee; Senate Armed Services Committee; and Senate Finance Committee, respectively.
“These DOGE employees’ conflicts of interest and role in the mass firings at CFPB, Treasury, and IRS undermine the integrity of their decision-making and the actions taken by the agencies where they work,” the three senators wrote.
Recent reporting by Politico revealed that Tom Krause, the leader of the Treasury’s DOGE team, has financial holdings worth hundreds of thousands of dollars in companies like JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, PNC, U.S. Bank, Wells Fargo, Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley, and Santander—all companies that have business before Treasury or provide services to the Department. Krause has also been responsible for leading Treasury’s efforts to modernize the Treasury’s IT and financial infrastructure while owning shares of big tech companies like Google, Oracle, and Amazon.
Krause and two other Treasury employees, Todd Newnam and Linda Whitridge, also own shares of Intuit, the parent company of TurboTax, which for years has attempted to sabotage the IRS Direct File program. Direct File allows taxpayers to file their taxes for free and directly with the IRS instead of using private sector programs like TurboTax. In recent months, DOGE fired the program’s development team and the Trump administration has reportedly decided to end the program.
“It would be deeply disturbing if DOGE employees with a financial stake in Intuit were involved with overseeing and dismantling the Direct File initiative, which would directly benefit Intuit and these employees’ financial holdings,” the lawmakers wrote.
ProPublica also recently reported that Gavin Kliger, a DOGE aid at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), was warned by ethics officials that he held stock in companies that “employees are forbidden from owning.” These holdings include as much as $715,000 of investments in barred companies such as Apple Inc., Tesla Inc., Alphabet Inc., and two cryptocurrencies, all companies subject to investigation by the CFPB. Three days later, despite ethics officials’ warnings, Kliger participated in layoffs at the agency, including firing the ethics lawyers that warned him of his conflicts.
At least one expert has described Mr. Kliger’s actions as “look[ing] like a pretty clear-cut violation’” of the federal criminal conflict-of-interest statute, which could carry a fine of up to $250,000 and up to five years in prison.
“Together, these three examples underscore what appears to be a pervasive problem with Elon Musk and DOGE employees trampling ethics rules and laws to benefit their own pockets at the expense of the American public,” wrote the senators.
The senators called on the DOJ, OGE, and Inspectors Generals of the Treasury, Office for Tax Administration, and the Federal Reserve to investigate the legality of these employees’ conflicts and whether they have violated federal ethics laws.
“Neither Mr. Musk nor those working on his behalf in DOGE are above the law, and if they have failed to follow it, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and other relevant government officials should act to hold them accountable,” the senators concluded.
Full text of the letter follows:
Dear Attorney General Bondi, Acting Director Greer, Ms. Sciurba, Ms. Hill, and Mr. Gibson:
We write regarding new reports that DOGE employees at the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) have been engaged in the dismantling of these agencies while holding hundreds of thousands of dollars of stock in private companies benefitting from these individuals’ efforts to eliminate key programs, staff, and policies. This poses a clear conflict of interest and potential criminal violation of federal ethics law, which bars any Federal government employee from “participat[ing] personally and substantially…[in any] particular matter in which [they] … ha[ve] a financial interest.” A willful violation of the law would subject these individuals to a fine of up to $250,000 and up to five years in prison. We request that your offices investigate this matter.
Neither Mr. Musk nor those working on his behalf with DOGE are above the law, and if they have failed to follow it, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and other relevant government officials should hold them accountable.
First, earlier this month, reporting revealed that Tom Krause, the leader of Treasury’s DOGE team and top official overseeing Treasury’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service, has financial holdings worth hundreds of thousands of dollars in companies that have business before Treasury or provide services to the Department. Some of Mr. Krause’s holdings—including hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of shares of JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, PNC, U.S. Bank, Wells Fargo, Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley, and Santander—are in financial institutions that provide financial services to and purchase U.S. debt securities directly from Treasury. In addition, Mr. Krause has also been responsible for leading Treasury’s efforts to “modernize its IT and financial infrastructure,” despite owning shares of big tech firms like Google, Oracle, and Amazon. Experts have described this as “a massive, glaring red flag of a conflict of interest.”
Second, the same report also indicated that Mr. Krause and two other Treasury DOGE team members—Todd Newnam and Linda Whitridge—own shares of Intuit, the parent company of TurboTax, which has been engaged in a years’ long attempt to sabotage the IRS’ free tax filing program, “Direct File.” This easy-to-use program allows taxpayers to file their taxes for free and directly with the IRS, rather than use private sector tax preparation software like TurboTax. Troublingly, the program has been targeted for elimination by DOGE: months after Musk posted that DOGE had “deleted” a team that contributed to Direct File’s development, reports surfaced that the Trump Administration had decided to end the program. It would be deeply disturbing if DOGE employees with a financial stake in Intuit were involved with overseeing and dismantling the Direct File initiative, which would directly benefit Intuit and these employees’ financial holdings.
Third, last month, ProPublica reported that Gavin Kliger, a DOGE aide at the CFPB, was warned by ethics attorneys “that he held stock in companies that employees are forbidden from owning — and was advised not to participate in any actions that could benefit him personally.” These holdings include as much as $715,000 of investments in barred companies such as Apple Inc., Tesla Inc., Alphabet Inc., and two cryptocurrencies. These companies are on the CFPB’s “Prohibited Holding” list since they are “subject to examination by the Bureau.”
Three days later, Mr. Kliger “participated in mass layoffs at the agency anyway, including the firings of the ethics lawyers that warned him” of his conflicts. The conflicts are obvious: “a defanged and downsized consumer watchdog is unlikely to aggressively regulate those and other companies, freeing them of compliance costs and the risk associated with examinations and enforcement actions. That in turn could boost their stock prices and benefit … Kliger.” At least one expert has described Mr. Kliger’s actions as “look[ing] like a pretty clear-cut violation’” of the federal criminal conflict-of-interest statute
Together, these three examples underscore what appears to be a pervasive problem with Elon Musk and DOGE employees trampling ethics rules and laws to benefit their own pockets at the expense of the American public. These DOGE employees’ conflicts of interest and role in the mass firings at CFPB, Treasury, and IRS undermine the integrity of their decision-making and the actions taken by the agencies where they work.
To be clear, there continues to be uncertainty about the specific circumstances surrounding these individuals’ conflicts, including whether they may have divested from some or all of their conflicted holdings, whether their actions may have constituted involvement in “particular matters” that will have a “direct and predictable effect” on their financial interests, or whether they may have received waivers from relevant Designated Agency Ethics Officials or White House officials. But the American people deserve answers regarding whether their own interests may have been undermined by Trump Administration officials that acted in violation of federal ethics laws.
Given these open questions, we ask that your offices investigate this matter. The Treasury Inspector General (Treasury IG), Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), and Inspector General of the Federal Reserve (Fed IG) should conduct a broad review of whether these and other DOGE representatives may have engaged in illegal or inappropriate efforts at the Treasury, IRS, and CFPB. The Department of Justice (DOJ) should investigate whether these and other DOGE representatives may have violated federal ethics law by abusing their official roles for the benefit of private companies in which they have a vested financial interest. We also ask that the Office of Government Ethics examine this matter and recommend any potential violations for appropriate enforcement action.
Thank you for your attention to this important matter.
Sincerely,