The National Labor Relations Board deleted system-access accounts used by members of the Department of Government Efficiency before Government Accountability Office investigators could inspect them, according to a GAO report published in April 2026.
That matters because the NLRB holds sensitive labor case data, including whistleblower identities, testimony, trade-secret material and other investigative records. If an outside team had broad access, the audit trail would be the boring but essential evidence showing who touched what. In this case, GAO said it had to rely on interviews with NLRB staff because the accounts and related access information were gone.
The GAO report, titled “National Labor Relations Board Detailees Did Not Access IT Systems Between April 16 and July 25, 2025,” examined a period after federal IT staffer Dan Berulis filed a whistleblower complaint with Congress on April 14, 2025. Berulis alleged that DOGE personnel had accessed, and may have removed, sensitive NLRB information.
GAO said the NLRB deleted the DOGE team members’ system-access accounts in August 2025, after the detail agreement for DOGE staff expired and before GAO investigators asked to observe the systems. The report did not assess DOGE activity before April 16, the period covered by Berulis’ complaint.
What GAO could and could not verify
GAO said it interviewed NLRB personnel about the level of access given to DOGE team members for each system. Because the relevant accounts had already been deleted, GAO said it could not independently confirm those descriptions.
The report identified two systems DOGE accessed: Electronic Official Personnel Folders and the Federal Personnel and Payroll System. Both contain personal information about federal workers. Berulis’ complaint also alleged DOGE accessed NxGen, an NLRB case management system containing sensitive data tied to unfair labor practice allegations, before April 16, 2025.
Berulis alleged in his complaint that DOGE officials sought “tenant owner” accounts, a level of access he described as allowing broad ability to read, copy and change data. He said that access would exceed what the agency’s chief information officer held.
The GAO report did not name the DOGE personnel involved. Justin Fox, Nate Cavanaugh and Jordan Wick were at the NLRB at some point, according to the reporting, but neither GAO nor Berulis’ complaint identified specific DOGE members as the account holders. The NLRB, Fox, Cavanaugh and Wick did not respond to requests for comment.
Records rules and unresolved questions
Federal records rules cited in the reporting require agencies to keep records from systems requiring special accountability for access, including systems with personally identifiable or sensitive information, for six years. The General Records Schedule also says records cannot be destroyed while relevant Freedom of Information Act requests are pending or expected until those requests are resolved.
Dan McGrath, senior oversight counsel at Democracy Forward, said the fast deletion of records showing DOGE’s access level was alarming. He argued the deletion may violate the Federal Records Act because it could prevent the public from using FOIA to see what DOGE did at the agency.
Michael Duff, a Saint Louis University School of Law professor and former NLRB lawyer, said he knew of no legitimate reason for deleting the data. He called the deletion irregular and likely contrary to agency practice, especially while the NLRB inspector general’s investigation was underway.
Jessica Baxter, a GAO spokesperson, said the agency stands by its findings, its report title and its review process, describing GAO’s work as nonpartisan, independent and fact-based. Baxter said GAO chose the report’s date range to overlap with the NLRB inspector general investigation, but did not address whether deleting the accounts broke federal law.
The NLRB inspector general opened an investigation in May 2025 after members of Congress demanded answers about DOGE access. That investigation remains ongoing.
The political stakes are not subtle. Elon Musk led DOGE, and his companies Tesla and SpaceX have faced NLRB investigations. The NLRB dropped a case against SpaceX earlier in 2026, saying it lacked jurisdiction. Democratic senators Elizabeth Warren and Richard Blumenthal later announced an investigation into whether political considerations influenced that decision.
This story draws on original reporting from WIRED.
