When Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency came knocking at the SEC’s door in early 2025, agency employees had questions. Specifically, the kind of questions you ask when someone wants the keys to a building full of sensitive financial data.
Internal SEC emails show that staff raised concerns about what data DOGE personnel could access after the government efficiency initiative embedded representatives within the securities regulator. The pushback centered on the scope of access being requested, which eventually extended to personnel records and internal staff communications.
What the emails show
On March 28, 2025, the SEC circulated an internal email to staff explaining that DOGE representatives would be onboarded at the agency. Access to SEC systems would be conditional on completing ethical reviews and required training.
By April, Eliezer Mishory, a key DOGE figure at the SEC, requested read-and-write access to staff communications and personnel data. SEC compliance teams pushed back on Mishory’s request, with resistance coming from the agency’s existing internal controls designed to prevent broad, unchecked data access.
