Trump’s Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has granted Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team full access to the federal payment system responsible for doling out trillions of dollars to Americans, raising serious concerns about political interference in government spending.
This unprecedented move follows a week-long standoff with David Lebryk, a career civil servant who resisted DOGE’s requests for access. Lebryk was placed on leave and abruptly retired on Friday after the dispute.
The DOGE team, which is not an official government department but rather a group assembled by Elon Musk at Trump’s direction, now has the ability to monitor and potentially restrict payments across the entire federal government. This includes highly sensitive information about millions of Americans who receive Social Security checks, tax refunds, and other federal payments.
Bessent gave access to a handful of DOGE staff members, including the CEO of Silicon Valley Cloud Software Group, Tom Krause. (A week later, Krause was appointed as the Fiscal Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, the highest-ranking non-political position in the office.)
Democratic Senator Ron Wyden has pointed out the conflict of interest in giving Musk’s team access to payments for government benefits and contractors that may compete with Musk’s own companies. Wyden said, “I can think of no good reason why political operators who have demonstrated a blatant disregard for the law would need access to these sensitive, mission-critical systems.”
The move also raises questions about the Trump administration’s attempts to unilaterally restrict spending approved by Congress, a strategy that has faced legal challenges in the past.
Musk, who has been on a rampage against government spending, took to Twitter/X, seemingly gleeful about his coup of the payment system.
DOGE teams have additionally demanded access to data and systems at other federal agencies, though none control the flow of money to the extent that the Treasury Department does.
