Elon Musk’s commission gains access to sensitive Treasury payment systems, AP sources say
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WASHINGTON — The Department of Government Efficiency, run by President Trump’s billionaire advisor and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, has gained access to sensitive Treasury data including Social Security and Medicare customer payment systems, according to two people familiar with the situation.
The move by the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, a Trump administration task force assigned to find ways to fire federal workers, cut programs and slash federal regulations, means it could have wide leeway to access important taxpayer data, among other things.
The New York Times first reported the news of the group’s access of the massive federal payment system. The two people who spoke to the Associated Press spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
The highest-ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, Ron Wyden of Oregon, sent a letter Friday to new Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent expressing concern that “officials associated with Musk may have intended to access these payment systems to illegally withhold payments to any number of programs.”
“To put it bluntly, these payment systems simply cannot fail, and any politically motivated meddling in them risks severe damage to our country and the economy,” Wyden said.
President-elect Donald Trump says Elon Musk and former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy will lead a new, nongovernmental group called the “Department of Government Efficiency.”
The news comes after Treasury’s acting deputy secretary, David Lebryk, resigned from his position after more than 30 years of service. The Washington Post on Friday reported that Lebryk resigned after Musk and his DOGE team requested access to sensitive Treasury data.
“The Fiscal Service performs some of the most vital functions in government,” Lebryk said in a letter to Treasury employees sent out Friday. “Our work may be unknown to most of the public, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t exceptionally important. I am grateful for having been able to work alongside some of the nation’s best and most talented operations staff.”
The letter did not mention a request to access Treasury payments.
Musk on Saturday responded to a post on his social media platform, X, about the departure of Lebryk, saying without offering proof: “The @DOGE team discovered, among other things, that payment approval officers at Treasury were instructed always to approve payments, even to known fraudulent or terrorist groups. They literally never denied a payment in their entire career. Not even once.”
Musk made the gestures during a giddy speech celebrating Trump’s return to power at a rally Monday at Capital One Arena in Washington. Many condemn the gestures, but not the ADL.
DOGE was originally headed by Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who jointly vowed to cut billions from the federal budget and usher in “mass headcount reductions across the federal bureaucracy.” Ramaswamy has since left DOGE as he considers a run for governor of Ohio.
Hussein writes for the Associated Press.
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