Elon Musk’s government cost-cutting campaign at the U.S. Federal Trade Commission raises concern about exposure of confidential corporate data, say two Democratic commissioners at the agency who were fired last month by President Donald Trump.
Rebecca Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya told Reuters they will call on FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson to publicly provide details about the staffers from Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, who they report to, and what systems they can access.
“This data can move markets. It can certainly change the competitive dynamics in any industry. Under no circumstances should DOGE be able to access this data. We are deeply concerned that they may do it anyway,” they said in a statement.
The risk extends beyond merger files: if DOGE reviews contracts with expert witnesses, it could come across nonpublic information about ongoing investigations, they said. That concern extends to the files of commissioners, the FTC’s in-house judges, and their staff, as well as investigative files, Bedoya and Slaughter said.
The FTC has also gathered information from OpenAI and Anthropic as part of a study of artificial intelligence partnerships. The companies compete with Musk’s xAI.
The staffers should be barred from copying, deleting or editing any files, and should not be allowed to install software, they said.
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