U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Mark Warner (D-VA) are asking the Government Accountability Office to investigate recent activities by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency at the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The senators are seeking answers about any potential harms to American investors as a result of recent large-scale staff departures, cancelled contracts, and onboarding at the SEC by DOGE staff.
The letter follows last week’s Senate Banking Committee hearing where Democrats on the committee outlined concerns over SEC Chair nominee Paul Atkins’s judgment leading up to the 2008 financial crisis and financial conflicts of interest.
“The SEC is the nation’s primary enforcer of securities laws and works to ‘protect investors; maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets; and facilitate capital formation’ … Given the importance of the SEC, we are concerned by recent reports regarding the Trump Administration’s efforts to shrink the agency in the name of government efficiency,” wrote the Senators in a letter to GAO Comptroller Gene Dodaro.
Warren is the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, while Warner is the ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Securities, Insurance, and Investment.
“According to recent reports, the Commission is “facing a staff exodus across key departments” after over 600 SEC employees—or roughly 12% of the agency’s staff—agreed to voluntarily leave the agency in response to DOGE-driven efforts to “slash the federal workforce,” the senators wrote. “It is essential that Congress and the public understand how the Trump Administration’s recent actions have affected the SEC’s ability to carry out its mission and statutory obligations,” wrote the Senators.
The end the letter with a request that the GAO conduct a review of actions that have occurred at the SEC since Jan. 20.