Lambert here: Long and very detailed. Worth reading in full.
The current situation involves two prongs. First, concerns exist that DOGE is seeking access across a range of federal government data systems, including those of the Social Security Administration and the IRS, potentially using the latter not for legitimate tax enforcement, but for political purposes Second, while IRS system modernization is promoted as a positive technical advancement, this may serve as a means to expand surveillance and violate data privacy laws and protections. While integrating federal data systems may seem efficient, those barriers exist because they prevent the weaponization of data against the public.
DOGE’s initial rhetoric was full of grand promises about modernization, but their immediate priority quickly revealed itself: securing unprecedented access to sensitive taxpayer data. The reality is DOGE now wields access to the Integrated Data Retrieval System (IDRS) — a system which enables IRS employees to have instantaneous visual access to centralized digital records that contain all tax-related information for individuals or business entities managed through the IRS’s legacy systems, many of which still rely on COBOL programming (more on this later). Who is associated with DOGE and has access to this system, and whether they are political appointees or hired in the civil service, is shrouded in secrecy.
While the Internal Revenue Code provides robust protections for taxpayer data through Section 6103, which establishes confidentiality with strict penalties for violations and permits access and sharing only under specific, explicit circumstances, we cannot verify that DOGE officials comply with these rules. This oversight gap is especially troubling as they prepare to undertake their next ambitious project: a complete rewrite of legacy systems written in Assembly Code and COBOL — programming languages that form the foundation of many critical government functions.
Wired Reporting indicates an alarmingly naive plan to convert decades of critical COBOL code to Java through a 30-day “hackathon”, yet the true scope and timeline of this risky undertaking remain opaque. While the project’s exact details are murky, their messaging suggests an unprecedented urgency in modernization efforts. In a March FOX News appearance, Sam Corcos (representing DOGE), alongside Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant [sic], launched targeted criticisms of the IRS’s legacy systems. Bessent amplified these claims, declaring on social media that the IRS modernization program lags 35 years behind schedule. Corcos is now a Treasury political appointee who serves as the agency’s Chief Information Officer. A career civil servant previously held that role.
This rushed rhetoric perfectly exemplifies DOGE’s toxic combination of technical hubris and institutional recklessness.
While DOGE officials claim to be replacing Assembly code with Java, COBOL-based systems were reportedly being migrated to new compilers or systems known as RM/COBOL [see here —lambert] which was also being implemented at the Bureau of the Fiscal Service. A major advantage of RM/COBOLis that it makes the code platform agnostic, allowing it to run on platforms other than large powerful computing systems such as mainframes.
Modernizing these COBOL systems requires more than mere language syntax fluency. These systems have developed intricate internal business logics that constitute vital institutional knowledge. Consequently, retaining engineers and staff who possess this knowledge and can train new engineers familiar with COBOL is an integral part of any successful modernization process [as opposed, for example, to Musk and his false claims about dead recipients. —lambert]
This raises a deeper question: if the IRS is essential political infrastructure and central to the functioning of the entire fiscal state, should it be subject to annual political fights over appropriations at all? Modernization can’t succeed if it remains hostage to short-term political cycles. What’s needed is structural commitment: stable funding, institutional continuity, and governance mechanisms that treat the IRS not as a punching bag, but as core democratic infrastructure. DOGE’s narrative ignores decades of defunded effort, bureaucratic workarounds, and congressional gridlock and pretends modernization failure was solely a product of technical incompetence rather than political constraint.
Meanwhile, additional risks have emerged around DOGE’s broader digital ambitions. Multiple sources flagged DOGE’s parallel effort to develop a “mega API” — a centralized interface intended to integrate IRS data with other federal databases. While framed as an efficiency tool, staff expressed alarm that it could enable cross-agency data sharing without adequate safeguards, including possible tracking of migrant populations, nonprofit activity, and union operations. These concerns echo broader patterns in administrative surveillance, where modernization rhetoric has historically masked new capacities for control. There are also growing concerns from staff about undocumented system changes and the possible removal of legacy records, raising alarms about data governance, audit integrity, and long-term institutional continuity. Thus far, DOGE has declined to respond to multiple FOIA requests or provide detailed documentation of these efforts, citing national security and cybersecurity exemptions. As oversight bodies begin to take notice, the opacity itself has become a warning sign.
Though not formally disclosed, report[s] suggest Palantir may be involved in early-stage backend integration or pilot analysis projects. If true, this marks a significant shift in how IRS data is governed and who has access to the informational backbone of the American tax system.
TIGTA has noted that while COBOL systems present challenges, many vulnerabilities stem from funding shortfalls for patching and hardware upgrades, not the language itself. These are problems of political will, not just code architecture.
Lambert here: But see Conway’s Law, both for today’s IRS and whatever DOGE Palantir comes up with.
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