Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has begun its probes into the federal government with some obstacles. While a lawsuit attempting to keep DOGE out of the data from the Labor Department was dismissed, another U.S. district judge ruled against DOGE accessing the U.S. Treasury.

“We‘re working with [Musk and his team] at the president‘s direction to find what we can do to make our department much more efficient. So, I think it‘s important,” Noem said on CNN News’s State of the Union. “This is essentially an audit of the federal government, which is very powerful and needs to happen.”

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“I remember a time when Republicans were very careful about and worried about the government, particularly unelected people, having access to personal data,” host Dana Bash said.

“But Elon Musk is part of the administration that is helping us identify where we can find savings and what we can do. And he has gone through the processes to make sure that he has the authority the president has granted him,” Noem said. “His information that he has is looking at programs, not focusing on personal data and information.”

“Not focusing on it, but he has access to it?” Bash asked.

“You know, we‘ll be continuing to talk to him about what all he has access to,” Noem said. “But this audit needs to happen to make sure that we are going through a process that adds integrity to these programs.”

DHS notably encompasses the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which often includes personal data from victims of natural disasters. FEMA was under fire late last year for its lack of funding, which won’t last through the end of the season that typically ends around Nov. 30, according to Noem’s predecessor Alejandro Mayorkas. Meanwhile, the agency reported there were twice as many disasters in 2023 than in 2016.

Last year, Congress did not opt to add $10 billion toward natural disasters in the continuing resolution to fund the government that September.