US President Donald Trump and tech mogul Elon Musk’s government cuts could provide an opportunity for China and Russia, security experts warn.
The overhaul of the US federal government by President Donald Trump and his billionaire adviser Elon Musk is creating an unprecedented espionage risk by firing thousands of staff with insider knowledge and connections, security and intelligence experts warn.
The upheaval in Washington as Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) guts government agencies offers an opportunity for the country’s adversaries such as Russia and China to recruit informants, according to former US officials.
Each year, an average of more than 100,000 US federal workers leave their jobs, often to retire or to move to the private sector. So far in 2025, that number is reportedly already many times higher, although there is no official tally of total firings or resignations.
“This happens even in good times — someone in the intelligence community who for personal financial or other reasons walks into an embassy to sell America out — but DOGE is taking it to a whole new level,” said John Schindler, a former US counterintelligence official.
“Someone is going to go rogue,” he said. “It’s just a question of how bad it will be.”
The most high-profile cases in recent history involved former FBI agent Robert Hanssen and former CIA officer Aldrich Ames, who both spied for Russia.
Hanssen divulged details that authorities said were partly responsible for the outing of US informants in Russia who were later executed for working on Washington’s behalf.
Security secrets
Yet it’s not just intelligence officers who present potential security risks, experts say.
Many departments and agencies oversee sensitive information about national security and government operations. Departing employees could also give away security secrets that would allow someone to access government databases or physical offices.
For example, the Office of the US Trade Representative, for instance, maintains information on trade negotiations that could help an adversary undercut Washington, Pentagon databases contain reams of sensitive information on US military capabilities, while the Department of Energy oversees closely guarded nuclear secrets.
“This information is highly valuable, and it shouldn’t be surprising that Russia and China and other organisations — criminal syndicates for instance — would be aggressively recruiting government employees,” said Theresa Payton, a former White House chief information officer under President George W Bush, who now runs a cybersecurity firm.
However, only a tiny fraction of the many millions of people who have worked for the federal government have ever been accused of espionage. The overwhelming majority are conscientious patriots who would never sell out their country, according to Payton.
Background checks, employee training and exit interviews are all designed to prevent informants or moles — and to remind departing federal employees of their duty to preserve national secrets even after leaving federal service, the experts said.
DOGE has faced nearly two dozen lawsuits challenging the true size and legality of its cuts in federal government spending.
Last week, a judge in Maryland found that the dismantling of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) was likely unconstitutional — and indefinitely blocked DOGE from making further cuts to the agency.
