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My name is David Nelson, and I work for the IRS as a tax examining technician. I'm speaking out because our systems are incredibly outdated and not integrated, which handcuffs us. I'm not afraid of losing my career if it means I can help the American people and my colleagues at the IRS. We use a program called IDRS, dating back to the late 1960s. It significantly impacts our efficiency; it's absurd that the US tax system relies on such an old program. I've even created a solution as a hobby to improve things. Congress has been notified about this for years, and while the Inflation Reduction Act provided some funds, it was just a band-aid, not a real fix. I want to set an example for my children and do the right thing.

An individual stated they have not heard from the IRS after speaking out, but prior to doing so, they heard that people within the IRS were nervous about their plans to speak publicly, as it is strongly discouraged. They describe the IRS's IDRS system as antiquated and question who benefits from it remaining an analog system from the 1960s. They ask anyone with information about why the system hasn't been updated to contact them, suggesting this reason is why changes haven't occurred. They express hope for future changes.

Replica case folders are used when government employees retire. Compiling these folders is done by hand and takes six months. The process involves moving the folders around on carts through a mine for storage. Calculations are also done by hand. The speaker states that processing these folders is more difficult than doing taxes in the dark. They are bringing this retirement process online with modern software. As of tonight, 25 retirees are going through an entirely online retirement process for the first time. This is a collaboration with retirement services inside OPM. The record for one retiree is a whole pallet with 27 boxes of paper.

Governments lack the incentive to adapt and improve because they can't fail like private sector organizations. The technology revolution has transformed private sector organizations, but government organizations have not fully adapted. Government financial systems are decades old. It is claimed that $2.3 trillion in transactions cannot be tracked. Information cannot be shared within a single building because it's stored on dozens of different, inaccessible, and incompatible technological systems.

Our financial systems are antiquated. We're unable to track trillions of dollars in transactions. Information sharing is severely limited by outdated and incompatible technological systems.

Sam Korkos, a special advisor within the US Treasury, and Treasury Secretary Scott Vessant, discuss modernizing the IRS. Korkos is reviewing the IRS's modernization program, which is 30 years behind schedule and $15 billion over budget. The goal is to update the IRS's legacy infrastructure, which still uses old mainframes. Korkos says the IRS has talented software developers, but they haven't been empowered to make decisions. Vessant says entrenched interests and consultants have constricted themselves around the IRS, costing taxpayers unbelievable amounts of money. Korkos notes the IRS processes the same amount of data as a mid-sized bank, but with far more IT staff and a much larger budget, 80% of which goes to contractors and licenses. Vessant says his priorities for the IRS are collections, privacy, and customer service, none of which are being well served. Korkos has stopped work and cut about $1.5 billion from the modernization budget. He says the career staff has been cooperative. Vessant wants the American people to understand what is being done to make government work better, cheaper, faster, and with more privacy.

The speaker discusses the pension system and the experiences of various individuals. They mention the names of different people and talk about waiting in line and the possibility of receiving a pension. The speaker repeats these points multiple times throughout the transcript.

Speaker 0 recounts discovering a secret SCIF on campus, a secure facility with files nobody knew existed. An employee walked by a door, inquiries were made, the room was entered, and individuals were found working there with secret files on controversial topics. Those files have been turned over to attorneys and the speaker is pursuing what happened. The speaker notes that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) knows every traveler entering the country and every good that comes in, and they assess and collect tariffs. They highlight that information about travelers during COVID was with national labs under the speaker’s jurisdiction, and that scientists at those labs participated with the Wuhan lab. The speaker claims these scientists traveled back and forth between each other and worked on those experiments, describing this as eye-opening. Addressing Elon and his team, the speaker says they were extremely helpful since the speaker’s arrival in office, assisting in identifying a troubling issue: some of the speaker’s own department employees had downloaded software on the speaker’s phone and laptop to spy on them and record meetings. The speaker states that this had happened to several politicians and notes that bringing in technology experts helped reveal this software; without examining laptops and phones, the activity would still be ongoing. The speaker emphasizes a need to continue partnering with technology companies and experts to bring them in for assistance, as government work—especially within the department under the speaker’s jurisdiction—has been neglected and lagging behind what it should be. The speaker recalls that in the first four months, they couldn’t even email a PowerPoint from Department of Homeland Security servers if it was longer than six pages, illustrating what they view as backwards thinking that hindered national security. The speaker reflects on the concept of a deep state, admitting that they previously believed it existed but didn’t realize how severe it was. They describe daily efforts to uncover individuals who do not love America and who work within the Department and across the federal government. The overall message conveys uncovering secrecy, internal surveillance concerns, cross-agency connections involving CBP and national labs, collaboration with tech experts, and a strong critique of past departmental conduct and systemic protection failures.

Private files are no longer stored in physical locations like locked file cabinets. Instead, they are kept on laptops and in the cloud, making them accessible from anywhere. This shift means that sensitive information is now stored digitally rather than in a tangible space.

Speaker 0 recalls Speaker 1 saying they wanted the login for every computer. Speaker 0 didn't understand it at the time, but now realizes that accessing the computers is key to reforming the government. Speaker 1 states that the government is run by hundreds of computers. Even a presidential executive order must ultimately be implemented at a computer. To understand accounting and eliminate waste and fraud, one must analyze the computer database. Asking humans to ask other humans and contractors is inefficient. The only way to reconcile databases and eliminate waste and fraud is to examine the computers directly. Speaker 1 refers to this as "reprogramming the matrix" and says it involves understanding and reconciling computer databases to identify waste and fraud.

I'm David Nelson, a tax examining technician at the IRS. I'm speaking out because our systems are antiquated, specifically the Integrated Data Retrieval System (IDRS) from the 1960s. It drastically hurts our efficiency. The entire US tax system relies on this outdated, command-code driven program, similar to an older version of MS-DOS. I even created a solution in my free time to address this, but can't use it without permission. Congress has been aware of these issues for years, but the funding provided is just a band-aid, not a real fix. I'm risking my career because I want to help the American people and my colleagues at the IRS. I want to set an example for my kids. I'm doing what I can to protect others and do the right thing.

The speaker was asked to help fix retirement in the government and discovered that all paper documents for the retirement process are housed in a mine in Pennsylvania. This mine contains 22,000 filing cabinets stacked 10 high, holding 400 million pieces of paper. The retirement process, largely unchanged since the 1950s, involves physical paperwork and can take many months. Currently, the government can only process about 8,000 retirements a month, with processing times taking six to nine months, and calculations are often incorrect. The goal is to digitize the process, creating an online system that takes only a few days. The speaker believes civil servants are subjected to outdated processes and aims to provide a modern, user-friendly experience. The overhaul is expected to be completed in the next couple of months.

I work long hours until 4:45, waiting until age 57 to retire with a pension. Going back to the office on Mondays is tough. I have dental, but filling out forms is frustrating. I'm embarrassed about the price hikes on my rental in Ocean City. Cameras are required for today's meeting. I waste my life waiting for a verification code. It's hard to check my 401k and my fudge round supplier doesn't take Apple Pay anymore. My job could be done by one person. Living in the real world is harder than you think. I have healthcare, but it's scary. I only have a few weeks left to open and roll. The new boss just snaps his pen. They want us back on Tuesdays too. We're just like you.

Our financial systems are outdated, making it difficult to track trillions of dollars in transactions. Additionally, the lack of compatibility between different technological systems prevents us from sharing information within this building.

- The discussion centers on ballot processing in Maricopa County, with several shipments arriving after the initial belief that counting was near completion. Speaker 0 notes that the Wednesday before the Friday they quit voting, and ten days before they quit tabulating, more truckloads of ballots came in, leading to the question: “how can you not know how many ballots are still out there?” - Speaker 1 asks for clarification: “They thought they were done.” The conversation confirms multiple times that those running the counting rooms believed they were almost done, or would be done, on Wednesday morning, then Thursday morning, then Friday morning, and the process extended into the next week. - Trucks bringing ballots arrived on the third, fourth, and fifth days, continuing throughout the last week. The last day mentioned is the tenth, with ballots still arriving. The company involved is Runback, described as doing high-speed scanning and printing of duplications and military ballots. There was no observer presence at Runback, and Speaker 0 indicates she had not been called to work there; she does not know exactly what Runback was doing (printing vs. scanning). - It is stated that all high-speed scanning occurs at Runback, and the ballots go to Runback. There is uncertainty about off-site scanning and whether Dominion equipment was involved. Speaker 0 clarifies: “They were duplications, the ballots that wouldn’t read through the tabulation machines. They were ballots that came in from military and overseas.” The number of additional sources for ballots beyond military/overseas is unknown, and Speaker 0 suggests this is a question for county employees to explain. - About the counting process: Speaker 0 confirms that the ballots went through tabulation machines and that adjudication work took place for those late arrivals. They observed the ballots being processed, but did not know the exact totals for certain days. - Daily volumes are described. Speaker 0 estimates: one day a shift might handle 90,000 ballots, and some days had similar volumes across three shifts; other days had fewer. There were days when as few as 15,000 ballots were processed. The “back door” arrivals are contrasted with the front door, with Speaker 0 noting that all back door ballots were received through back entries, not the front door. The remaining ballots in the latter part of the period continued to come in and be tabulated, with ongoing full-time shifts through the eighth, ninth, and tenth days. - The episode concludes with Speaker 1 seeking further explanation, and Speaker 0 indicating that some of the details were not fully known and that a county employee should clarify where the incoming ballots came from during the latter part of the period.

The speakers discuss the flow of ballots and the involvement of a company called Runback. Trucks delivering ballots arrived on the third, then the fourth, and the fifth, continuing for days. The last day of the speaker’s involvement was the tenth, and trucks were still coming in. The ballots were coming from Runback, a company that does high‑speed scanning and printing of duplications, and the speaker mentions military ballots being produced or processed by Runback, though there is uncertainty about exactly what Runback was doing. When asked whether the ballots were printed or scanned off-site, the speaker is unsure. It is stated that all the high‑speed scanning occurs at Runback, and that those ballots go to Runback. There were no observers at Runback, and the speaker had not been called to work there. The question is raised about whether the scanning was done on-site at the Maricopa County structure, but the response indicates that scanning was not on-site and occurred at Runback where there are very high‑speed scanners. The question of whether Dominion equipment was involved is addressed: the ballots being scanned were not related to Dominion. The purpose of scanning the ballots in advance of tabulation on Dominion equipment is then explained: they were duplications of ballots that would not read through the tabulation machines, specifically ballots that came in from military and overseas. However, the speaker notes there were more ballots than just those, with trays of ballots being brought in, and uncertainty remains about where the rest were coming from. The speaker suggests that the remaining questions about the sources of these ballots should be answered by the county employees. In summary, the discussion centers on: a sequence of ballot deliveries over several days; Runback handling high‑speed scanning and duplications off-site; uncertainty about whether ballots were printed or scanned and by whom; the absence of observers at Runback; scanners used were not Dominion; the purpose of off-site scanning was to duplicate ballots that wouldn’t read through the tabulation machines, including military and overseas ballots; and unresolved questions about the origin of additional ballots, which require explanation from county staff. The exchange ends with a note that the remaining questions about the ballots’ origins are for the county employees to explain.

I work long hours until 4:45, waiting until I'm 57 to retire with a pension. Going back to the office on Mondays is tough. I have dental coverage, but filling out forms is frustrating. I'm embarrassed about the price hikes on my rental in Ocean City. I waste my life away with verification codes and can't even check my 401k. My fudge round supplier doesn't take Apple Pay anymore. It's a shame. I wish I could wake up and not have to do my job. Health care is good, but I'm scared about the details. I have limited time to open and roll my pledge. They want us back on Tuesdays too. It's exhausting. We're just like you.

The speakers discuss the outdated infrastructure in America, which hasn't been updated in 30-40 years. One speaker claims the last administration did nothing to address it. The other speaker says these problems have built up over a long time, and they launched a contract to modernize the infrastructure by transforming the copper wire system to fiber. This speaker says that when leaving office, they handed over the keys for the new administration to take it to the next level. There were technology and workforce issues. The number of air traffic controllers had been declining for decades, but they finally got it to go up. They handed over a growing air traffic control workforce to the new administration.

We're streamlining the federal bureaucracy, aiming to reduce the workforce. We found a surprising bottleneck: the retirement process. Currently, the maximum number of retirements per month is capped at 10,000 due to a completely manual, paper-based system. The paperwork is stored in a 1950s-era limestone mine, and the speed of the mine shaft elevator limits processing. This antiquated system employs thousands of people whose efforts could be far better utilized elsewhere. The situation is absurd; we need to modernize this process immediately. Imagine the increased efficiency and contribution to the country's goods and services if these employees were redeployed.

The speakers discuss the government's outdated paper-based retirement process, which involves storing physical files in a mine. One speaker recounts visiting the mine filled with filing cabinets from the 1960s, emphasizing its security and climate control, but questioning the continued use of paper in 2025. The process requires compiling retirement papers by hand, moving them on carts, and can take over six months, with calculations also done manually. They are implementing a new online retirement process, with 25 retirees currently using it. They mention cases of single retirees having entire pallets or shopping carts of documents. They want to free up the thousands of people who are carrying paper into a mine. They compare the government's technology to the "Flintstones" era. The conversation shifts to the postal service, which is legally required to have a balanced budget but has been losing money since 2007 due to additional regulations. The postal service lost $9.5 billion last year. They believe they can modernize it and help them become profitable.

Our financial systems are outdated, hindering our progress. It is estimated that $2.3 trillion in transactions cannot be tracked. Additionally, we face challenges in sharing information within this building due to incompatible and inaccessible technological systems.

Governments need to find incentives for bureaucracy to adapt and improve, unlike individuals or businesses that can fail and die. The technology revolution has transformed organizations in the private sector, but not the government. Our financial systems are outdated, with an estimated $2.3 trillion in untrackable transactions. Additionally, information cannot be shared within this building due to incompatible and inaccessible technological systems.

Sam Korkos, a special advisor within the US Treasury, and Secretary Scott Bessent discuss modernizing the IRS. Korkos, also CEO of a software company, was brought in to review the IRS's modernization program, which is 30 years behind schedule and $15 billion over budget. The goal is to migrate the IRS's legacy infrastructure, similar to old banking systems, to a modern system. Bessent says entrenched interests are constricting the system, costing taxpayers. Korkos notes the IRS processes data equivalent to a mid-sized bank but with far more IT staff and a larger budget, with 80% going to contractors and licenses. Bessent wants to improve collections, privacy, and customer service. Korkos says he's cutting wasteful projects and has stopped $1.5 billion in spending. He says career staff have been cooperative. Bessent says the goal is government efficiency, not elimination, and wants the IRS to work better, cheaper, faster, and with more privacy. Korkos is committed to the project for six months.

Our financial systems are outdated, hindering our progress. It is estimated that we are unable to trace $2.3 trillion in transactions. Additionally, the lack of compatibility between various technological systems prevents us from sharing information within this building.