DOGE accused of posting classified data that was already public information

• Elon Musk’s DOGE team is accused of posting classified intelligence online. The company asserts the information is public data sourced from a government website.

• The controversy centers on employment and total agency wage figures for the National Reconnaissance Office.

• The White House and DOGE have both pushed back against the claims, emphasizing the data’s public availability and questioning the credibility of those making the allegations.

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Elon Musk’s DOGE team is facing allegations of posting classified U.S. intelligence on its website, claims that DOGE has denied. The accusations, first reported by left-leaning outlets such as HuffPost, suggest the team shared sensitive information “with the world.”

Anonymous source raises initial concerns

The claims originated from an anonymous employee within the Defense Intelligence Agency, according to HuffPost. However, DOGE quickly responded to the allegations on its X account, asserting that the “classified information” is actually public data.

This is inaccurate. The referenced “classified information” is actually public FedScope data, posted publicly by OPM (Office of Personnel Management) in March 2024. https://t.co/VjECnq2KKj https://t.co/AHwLx3jmfu

— Department of Government Efficiency (@DOGE) February 17, 2025

“This is inaccurate. The referenced ‘classified information’ is actually public FedScope data, posted publicly by the Office of Personnel Management in March 2024,” the DOGE team wrote, attaching a link to the publicly available database.

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Sen. Tim Kaine weighs in

Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine, Va., also addressed the controversy during an appearance on “Fox News Sunday.”

“Yesterday, the DOGE guys posted classified information on their website, and they had to realize, ‘Oh, we didn’t realize that agency was a classified agency.’ You shouldn’t let people run rampage through offices that have classified information,” Kaine said.

Understanding the data

The disputed data is connected to DOGE’s ongoing project that tracks government spending by publishing employment numbers and wage totals for various federal agencies. The website lists the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) — an intelligence agency responsible for satellite intelligence — showing 1,097 employees with a total wage bill of $165.9 million.

While the data comes from FedScope, a public database maintained by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), some experts remain concerned.

“I do not know whether classified information has been publicly disclosed, but there are several reasons the size and budget should not be publicly disclosed,” said Mick Mulroy, ABC News defense analyst. “Our adversaries want to collect as much information as they can to determine what we are doing, how we are doing it, and the extent of our investment in intelligence collection.”

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White House responds

The White House has also issued a statement on the matter, highlighting that the data stems from publicly available sources.

“DOGE is sharing OPM data from under the Biden administration. The headcount for this agency has been publicly available on OPM’s website,” the statement read. “This is the same intelligence community that wrote in a letter that Hunter Biden’s laptop was Russian disinformation. Their lack of credibility is not up for debate.”