Exclusive: Whistleblower Alleges DOGE May Have Taken Sensitive Labor Data

The NPR Politics Podcast

NPR

Politics, Daily News, News

4.5 • 24.9K Ratings

🗓️ 16 April 2025

⏱️ 16 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The entity known as DOGE has been used as part of the Trump administration's efforts to radically reshape the federal government. But a whistleblower alleges DOGE may have improperly accessed data at the National Labor Relations Board, a regulatory body that investigates and adjudicates complaints about unfair labor practices. The agency has opened investigations into unfair labor practices at DOGE figurehead Elon Musk's businesses.

This episode: political correspondent Ashley Lopez, political reporter Stephen Fowler, and cybersecurity correspondent Jenna McLaughlin.

Have information or evidence to share about DOGE's access to data inside the federal government? Reach out to Jenna McLaughlin through encrypted communications on Signal at jennamclaughlin.54. Stephen Fowler is available on Signal at stphnfwlr.25. Please use a nonwork device.

The podcast is produced by Bria Suggs & Kelli Wessinger and edited by Casey Morell. Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi.

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Transcript

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0:24.2	Hey there. This is Sarah Mosby from St. Louis, Missouri.
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0:34.6	This podcast was recorded at 120 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday, April 16th, 2025.
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1:03.5	Fair enough, fair enough. Okay. Hey there, it's the NPR Politics Podcast. I'm Ashley Lopez. I cover politics.
1:09.4	I'm Stephen Fowler. I also cover politics.
1:11.8	And I'm Jenna McLaughlin. I cover cybersecurity. And today on the show, an NPR exclusive.
1:16.8	A whistleblower alleges the entity known as Doge may have improperly accessed data from the National Labor Relations Board and then tried to cover it up.
1:26.0	Jenna, like, let's first start with the basics here.
1:28.0	What is the National Labor Relations Board and what is their role in government?
1:32.9	Yeah, it is a really small, independent federal agency, but it's very important for protecting
	...

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