I.R.S. Bars Musk Ally From Seeing Personal Information

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I.R.S. Bars Musk Ally From Seeing Personal Information

The Internal Revenue Service will not allow a member of Elon Musk’s team to view individual tax returns while he works at the agency, according to a copy of an agreement laying out his temporary job assignment viewed by The New York Times.

The Trump administration has sent Gavin Kliger, a 25-year-old software engineer, to work at the I.R.S. to improve its information technology and to fight fraud. White House officials had pushed for Mr. Kliger to have broad visibility of I.R.S. data as part of that assignment.

But the possibility of granting Mr. Kliger entry into databases that include reams of sensitive information about American individuals, nonprofits and companies alarmed the I.R.S., where officials pushed to limit the scope of Mr. Kliger’s access.

In a memorandum of understanding between the I.R.S. and the Office of Personnel Management, where Mr. Kliger is a senior adviser, the two agencies agreed to put checks on Mr. Kliger’s access during his time at the I.R.S., which is focused on information technology.

“Should access to I.R.S. systems that contain returns or return information become necessary as part of the detailee’s duties under this agreement, that access shall only be provided if it is anonymized and in a manner that cannot be associated with, directly or indirectly, any taxpayer,” the agreement reads.

Mr. Kliger is set to work at the I.R.S. for 120 days, with the possibility of a 120-day extension, according to the agreement. John York, a counselor at the Treasury Department, will oversee his work. A Treasury Department spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment.

The agreement may help resolve concerns on Capitol Hill and among outside advocacy groups about the security of taxpayer information at the I.R.S., at least for now. The Trump administration has been sued repeatedly over its decision to give Mr. Musk’s team access to various government databases.

In a court case challenging access to Treasury’s payment system, Mr. York in a sworn statement said Treasury was hiring two more members of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency to work on technology issues at the I.R.S. While Mr. Kliger has shown up at I.R.S. headquarters and has started working there, no other members of Mr. Musk’s team have arrived at the agency yet, according to two people familiar with the matter.

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