DOGE Aide Visits IRS to Look for Ways to Automate Operations (1)

Elon Musk’s efficiency office appears to be moving closer to the IRS.

Musk adviser Gavin Kliger, a special adviser to the director at the Office of Personnel Management, visited the agency Thursday to meet with IT and compliance staff, according to two people familiar with the visit.

Kliger asked questions on how functions at the IRS could be automated and why the agency grew in particular compliance areas, the people familiar with the visit said. Following the infusion of cash from the 2022 tax-and-climate law, the IRS made strides to ramp up automation and expand its enforcement efforts.

“The Internal Revenue Service will be looked at like everybody else,” President Donald Trump said earlier Thursday during a press conference. Reuters first reported the meeting at the IRS.

Kliger met with Heather Maloy, Chief Taxpayer Compliance Officer, Rajiv Uppal, the Chief Information Officer and Kaschit Pandya, Chief Technology Officer, according to one person familiar with the meeting.

The Department of Government Efficiency team also requested to review the system the agency uses for internal accounting operations, such as payroll and purchasing, according to a third person familiar with the matter. This system is separate from the one used for taxes, the person said, adding that some IRS staff are also being moved from their regular assignments to work with DOGE at the agency.

This visit comes after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said last week that Musk’s so-called government efficiency team hasn’t yet requested access to IRS and individual taxpayer data.

Treasury has said that employees on Musk’s team were given read-only access to federal payment data, but Democrats and watchdogs are raising taxpayer data privacy concerns and are refuting Bessent.

The IRS is currently led by acting commissioner and career employee Doug O’Donnell. Republicans have blasted the agency for years, especially in light of billions of dollars it got under the 2022 law. House Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.) doubled down in a letter to O’Donnell Thursday, demanding the IRS comply with Trump’s executive orders and Treasury’s directives.

OPM declined to comment. The IRS didn’t immediately respond to request for comment.