Who in this community or any other would encourage Identity Theft? I wouldn’t and I can’t think of any of our Washington State residents or representatives that would condone it either. But, that’s what’s happening now with Elon Musk and his band of 20-year-old hackers at the Treasury Department and other federal agencies. Although the public was told these guys only had “Read-Access”, that has been proven not to be the case, based on recent reporting at credible, mainstream news outlets. However, even if they only had “read-access” that’s bad enough. Hackers can copy what they want and use it to advantage themselves or foreign entities.

We don’t know who these DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) guys are or what they could do with our private information. Moreover, they certainly don’t appear to have had any real vetting or legal authorization to get our social security, income tax, or employment data, etc. A related lawsuit stated: “Allowing DOGE SGEs access to sensitive information lacked a rational basis and was unreasonable, particularly given the lack of transparency about DOGE’s members, their qualifications, security clearance, their job duties, and the scope of their access.”

Although there’s currently a court order temporarily restricting DOGE, there’s no assurance that they are abiding by the court order. I agree with all of Shawn Johnson’s issues in her letter to the editor (“Project 2025: A recap of the first wild weeks,” published Feb. 12). And, although I think that Patty Murray, Maria Cantwell, and Kim Schrier should hear from us about this issue, I think they already are working hard to stop DOGE. I’d encourage those of you who, like me, condemn this identity theft, to make your voice heard by calling the White House at 202-456-1111 (this number was published by the Seattle Times Editorial staff).

Donna Smith

Enumclaw