The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), established under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1935, is among the many federal government agencies being targeted for mass layoffs by the Trump Administration and the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Like other agencies, the NLRB fears that Trump Administration/DOGE cuts will make it difficult for the agency to function effectively. But the NLRB, according to National Public Radio (NPR), has another worry as well: a fear that "sensitive data" will be compromised.

"The small, independent federal agency investigates and adjudicates complaints about unfair labor practices," NPR's Jenna McLaughlin explains in an article published on April 15. "It stores reams of potentially sensitive data, from confidential information about employees who want to form unions to proprietary business information. The DOGE employees, who are effectively led by White House adviser and billionaire tech CEO Elon Musk, appeared to have their sights set on accessing the NLRB's internal systems. They've said their unit's overall mission is to review agency data for compliance with the new administration's policies and to cut costs and maximize efficiency."

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McLaughlin continues, "But according to an official whistleblower disclosure shared with Congress and other federal overseers that was obtained by NPR, subsequent interviews with the whistleblower and records of internal communications, technical staff members were alarmed about what DOGE engineers did when they were granted access, particularly when those staffers noticed a spike in data leaving the agency."

The NLRB data in question, according to McLaughlin, includes "sensitive information on unions, ongoing legal cases and corporate secrets."

"The employees grew concerned that the NLRB's confidential data could be exposed, particularly after they started detecting suspicious log-in attempts from an IP address in Russia, according to the disclosure," McLaughlin reports. "Eventually, the disclosure continued, the IT department launched a formal review of what it deemed a serious, ongoing security breach or potentially illegal removal of personally identifiable information…. The new revelations about DOGE's activities at the labor agency come from a whistleblower in the IT department of the NLRB, who disclosed his concerns to Congress and the U.S. Office of Special Counsel in a detailed report that was then provided to NPR."

The NPR reporter adds, "Meanwhile, his attempts to raise concerns internally within the NLRB preceded someone 'physically taping a threatening note' to his door that included sensitive personal information and overhead photos of him walking his dog that appeared to be taken with a drone, according to a cover letter attached to his disclosure filed by his attorney, Andrew Bakaj of the nonprofit Whistleblower Aid."

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Read the full NPR article at this link.


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