Report: SEC Leadership Resists DOGE Request for Staff Emails

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reportedly resisted a request from the leader of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team at the agency to access staff emails, personnel data, contracts and payment systems.

SEC leadership, including Acting Chairman Mark T. Uyeda, pushed back on the request, Bloomberg reported Tuesday (April 15), citing unnamed sources.

It’s not clear why the DOGE team sought that SEC data or whether the team has been granted access to it, according to the report.

Reached by PYMNTS, an SEC spokesperson said in an emailed statement: “The SEC is working with DOGE to find cost efficiencies and ensure public funds are being used as effectively as possible.”

DOGE was created in January by an executive order from President Donald Trump and was tasked with updating software and technology to boost efficiency and productivity within the federal government, PYMNTS reported at the time.

On Jan. 31, it was reported that Department of the Treasury Fiscal Assistant Secretary David A. Lebryk was leaving that post following a clash with DOGE officials, who had requested access to sensitive payment systems.

The exact nature of the dispute was unclear, but DOGE officials had been asking for access to the system since after the election.

It was reported Feb. 2 that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent gave DOGE access to the system that disburses money on behalf of the federal government, providing DOGE with a tool that can be used to monitor and limit government spending.

The members of the DOGE team who were given access to the system were made Treasury employees, passed government background checks and obtained security clearances.

Teams associated with DOGE were also seeking access to other federal agencies’ data and systems.

On Feb. 18, it was reported that Michelle King, a 30-year veteran of the Social Security Administration and its acting commissioner, stepped down after a dispute over DOGE’s attempt to access sensitive data.

While it was not clear what data DOGE wanted to access, the Social Security Administration has every Social Security number that has ever been issued, the work, pay history and banking information of millions of Americans, and medical records for people seeking disability benefits.