Stephen Miller, Trump’s deputy chief of staff for policy, said he could give “100% assurance” that DOGE will not go sifting through taxpayers’ records if they get access to IRS data — arguing the focus would be on “anti-fraud” and protecting taxpayer data.
Asked on Fox News for assurances that DOGE wouldn’t randomly sift through the records and maybe come across people’s private records, Miller replied, “I can give absolute, 100% assurance. I give you complete and total insurance on that point. We are talking about performing a basic anti-fraud review to ensure people are not engaging in large-scale theft of federal taxpayer benefits.”
White House deputy chief of staff for policy, Stephen Miller watches as President Donald Trump speaks with reporters as he signs executive orders in the Oval Office at the White House, Feb. 10, 2025, in Washington.
Alex Brandon/AP
Pressed what the plan would be once DOGE has access to the data, Miller said the focus would be on “foreign fraud rings,” which he said “use fake Social Security numbers, fake identities, to steal billions in taxpayer benefits,” although he acknowledged the administration doesn’t know exactly how pervasive the issue is.
“There is no way to know until DOGE gets full access exactly how much money we’re talking about, but over 10 years normal budget window, you could be talking about saving over $1 trillion by clamping down on massive fraud, our tax and entitlement systems, including those by organized fraud and theft rings,” Miller said.
Miller pointed out that DOGE staffers are federal employees.
“They are political appointees, just like me, just like anybody else in the White House, that serve and answer to the president. So we are not talking about an outside private entity, we are talking about the exist federal staff of the federal government performing their statutory and constitutional duty,” he said.
Miller said the administration is “restoring” neutrality, ethics and security controls at the agency.
“As far as protecting the secrecy of tax records, the IRS has been weaponized at the career level against the American people for years now. This has been one of the most invasive arms of the federal government — engaging in capricious and politically based audits, leaking taxpayer information for political reasons,” he said.
-ABC News’ Molly Nagle
