A senior House Democrat is urging the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) inspector general to investigate whether the agency submitted inaccurate or misleading information in litigation tied to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and its access to federal payment systems.
In a letter sent Friday and shared first with The Hill, Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.), the ranking member of the House Education and Workforce Committee, requested an immediate inquiry into the matter. Scott wrote that he is "deeply concerned about the possibility that the Department is providing false or inaccurate information in litigation."
The request centers on actions by billionaire Elon Musk, who previously led DOGE, and his team's access to the federal government's payment system in January 2025. That access exposed sensitive personal data—including Social Security numbers, taxpayer IDs, children's information, and home addresses—of tens of millions of Americans. DOGE officials also gained entry to HHS payment and contracting systems that manage hundreds of billions of dollars in annual healthcare provider payments.
These developments triggered a wave of lawsuits from labor unions and privacy advocates. Scott's concern stems from HHS's refusal to cooperate with an independent review by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). The agency denied the GAO's request for a standard observational walkthrough of its IT systems. After the GAO submitted a revised request for artifacts and screenshots as verification, HHS again declined to cooperate.
Scott noted that HHS's noncooperation appeared to stem from fears that information provided to the GAO might not match what was disclosed in litigation. He also pointed to a May letter he sent to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. asking for clarification about the agency's refusal to cooperate and what it meant by "discrepancies" between HHS's court submissions and what it would provide to the GAO.
The Virginia Democrat said the department has not responded to repeated requests to "refute the assertion that it has provided misinformation to one or more courts." The lack of response heightens the need for an independent investigation, Scott argued.
This development comes as House Democrats push a broader healthcare agenda and as political battles intensify ahead of November. The HHS inspector general's office has not yet commented on the request.
Scott's letter adds to growing scrutiny of DOGE's operations and the Trump administration's handling of sensitive data. The outcome of the requested investigation could have significant implications for ongoing lawsuits and public trust in federal data security.
