Washington, D.C. — A team of technologists under Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is reportedly using artificial intelligence to monitor internal communications at U.S. federal agencies, flagging content deemed hostile to President Donald Trump or his policy agenda, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Sources say Trump-aligned agency is scanning employee messages for disloyalty and bypassing federal transparency rules.
The revelation, reported by individuals with direct knowledge of DOGE’s operations, signals an unprecedented move to leverage cutting-edge technology for political surveillance inside the U.S. government. The DOGE initiative—largely shrouded in secrecy—has already drawn criticism for its lack of transparency and potential legal overreach.
Surveillance with AI and encrypted apps raises legal alarms
DOGE operatives are allegedly using AI to monitor employee communications in at least one federal agency, marking a new frontier in politically-driven oversight. According to two individuals briefed on the matter, the technology is scanning for signs of dissent or disloyalty toward Trump and Musk.
Compounding concerns is DOGE’s use of the encrypted messaging app Signal to coordinate activities—communication that can disappear after a set time, potentially violating federal record-keeping laws.
“If they’re using Signal and not backing up every message to federal files, then they are acting unlawfully,” said Kathleen Clark, a government ethics expert at Washington University in St. Louis.
DOGE officials have also “heavily” integrated Musk’s Grok AI chatbot—a competitor to ChatGPT—into their workflows aimed at cutting government expenditures.
Neither the White House, Elon Musk, nor DOGE representatives responded to requests for comment.
Targeting dissent at the EPA
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is reportedly among the first agencies affected. According to sources, EPA managers were informed by Trump appointees that DOGE was rolling out AI surveillance to scan for anti-Trump or anti-Musk sentiments within internal communications.
The EPA—already under pressure from the Trump administration’s sweeping cost-cutting efforts—has placed nearly 600 employees on leave and is preparing to slash its budget by 65%.
One EPA insider recalled being warned, “Be careful what you say, what you type and what you do.”
DOGE is reportedly monitoring platforms like Microsoft Teams, widely used for internal communication, to identify employees whose views or actions “did not align with the administration’s mission,” said sources.
The EPA declined to comment.
Ethical and legal experts question DOGE’s methods
Elon Musk has described DOGE as a tech-first initiative to root out “waste, fraud, and abuse” in the federal system, with a target of slashing $1 trillion from the national budget.
While few deny the need for modernizing outdated government systems, critics argue DOGE is instead weaponizing technology to purge dissenters and install political loyalists.
“It sounds like an abuse of government power to suppress or deter speech that the president of the United States doesn’t like,” said Clark.
Even before Trump’s return to office, Musk reportedly discussed the idea of using AI to automate federal work, with one source saying the vision was to “build the most dynamic AI system ever” using government data.
As a special government employee, Musk is legally barred from engaging in federal activities that benefit him or his companies—an issue now under scrutiny in federal court filings.
Transparency questions mount amid legal challenges
In addition to Signal, DOGE staffers are reportedly bypassing traditional document management protocols by editing drafts live in shared Google Docs—sidestepping vetting and creating an unofficial, untraceable paper trail.
“There’s multiple people in one Google Doc editing things simultaneously,” a source familiar with internal operations told Reuters.
The Trump administration has claimed DOGE is exempt from federal transparency laws, including the Freedom of Information Act, because it is housed within the Executive Office of the President. That assertion is now under legal challenge.
On March 10, a federal judge ordered DOGE to begin releasing records to Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a watchdog group that sued over access to internal DOGE documents. As of this week, CREW reported that no records had been handed over.
DOGE tightens control over federal digital infrastructure
As Musk’s influence expands within government IT infrastructure, DOGE has taken aggressive steps to limit internal oversight.
At the Office of Personnel Management (OPM)—the federal government’s central HR agency—Musk’s team reportedly locked out most employees from databases containing personal records of tens of millions of workers. These changes were made shortly after DOGE assumed control of the agency in January.
Sources say more than 100 OPM tech employees have since lost access to the cloud where key federal applications are housed. As of now, only two individuals have access: one career staffer and Greg Hogan, a political appointee and former AI startup executive who now serves as OPM’s Chief Information Officer. Hogan did not respond to requests for comment.
OPM plays a critical role in the administration’s downsizing plans, issuing policy blueprints that could reshape the federal civil service.
As lawsuits mount and public scrutiny grows, DOGE’s activities have become a focal point in the debate over the role of technology, transparency, and political loyalty in the modern American government.