He Blew the Whistle on DOGE. Then His Brakes Were Cut
Key takeaways
- At the time, DOGE teams, orchestrated by billionaire Elon Musk, were sweeping across government, firing federal workers, and accessing sensitive data and technical systems with no oversight and little transparency.
- The following day, Berulis went public in an NPR article with his name and claims.
- The complaint was initially filed under seal because Berulis maintains a security clearance that requires pre-publication review of anything related to his work with the government.
Why this matters: a development in AI with implications for how people work, create, and decide.
Photograph: WLADIMIR BULGAR/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/Getty Images Comment Loader Save Story Save this story Comment Loader Save Story Save this story On April 14, 2025, Dan Berulis, an IT staffer at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), filed a Congressional whistleblower complaint with an extraordinary and urgent claim: The so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) had seemingly compromised the agency’s data and appeared to be exfiltrating it out of the NLRB entirely. Additionally, Berulis claimed that mere minutes after DOGE members had accessed the agency’s data, there appeared to be login attempts from an IP address in Russia.
At the time, DOGE teams, orchestrated by billionaire Elon Musk, were sweeping across government, firing federal workers, and accessing sensitive data and technical systems with no oversight and little transparency.
The following day, Berulis went public in an NPR article with his name and claims. In it, he claimed that in the lead up to his Congressional disclosure, a threatening note had been taped to his door, including photos of him walking his dog that appeared to have been taken by a drone. Berulis was already scared that speaking out had made him a target.