Cybersecurity Policy Report, Connolly Seeks IG Probe of NLRB Whistleblower’s Data Breach Claims, (Apr 16, 2025)
Organizations Mentioned:National Labor Relations Board
A whistleblower’s allegations that the White House Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) caused a data breach at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) that NLRB’s inspector general should look into, according to Rep. Gerald Connolly (D., Va.), ranking member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
In a letter to the inspectors general for the NLRB and Department of Labor, Rep. Connolly notes that an NLRB whistleblower reported that DOGE personnel were given high-level access to NLRB’s systems, exfiltrated data, and sought to hide their activities (CPR, April 15).
Aside from the “technological malfeasance and illegal activity” described by the whistleblower, NLRB data could inappropriately benefit DOGE’s apparent leader, Elon Musk, Rep. Connolly said.
“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,” he told the IGs.
The whistleblower’s sworn statement indicates that DOGE’s NLRB team “accessed sensitive information that may relate to NLRB or DOL actions against Musk companies and his competitors, and that these DOGE engineers have sent that information to external sources,” Rep. Connolly said.
“Those engineers reportedly then used administrative access to information technology (IT) systems in an attempt to eliminate any trace of their actions—the kind of ‘evasive behavior’ that ‘criminal or state-sponsored hackers might do,’” he said, citing news reports.
“Willfully and unlawfully removing or destroying federal records is a criminal offense, as is receiving stolen government property,” he said.
He asked the IGs to report to Congress by April 29 on “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.”
News: FederalLegislation DataSecurity