Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency team have reportedly gained full access to the federal payment system, which contains sensitive personal information on millions of Americans, according to a report.
Access to the system—which is used to distribute Social Security checks, tax refunds, and other payments across the entire government—was granted by President Donald Trump’s freshly confirmed treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, three sources told The New York Times.
Since Trump’s inauguration, Musk and his lieutenants have rapidly seized control of key government workflows under the purported goal of trying to cut spending.
On Friday, news broke that Musk’s team had taken over key workflows in the Office of Personnel Management (the government’s human resources agency), shutting out senior officials in the process.
Musk’s request for access to the federal payment system was opposed by a career treasury official, David Lebryk, who was put on leave before abruptly retiring on Friday, the Times reported.
The White House did not immediately respond to The Daily Beast’s request for comment on the situation.
In the early hours of Saturday, before the Times’ report, Musk suggested he was seeking to gain access to the system because of concerns about fraudulent payments.
“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,” he wrote on X. “They literally never denied a payment in their entire career. Not even once.”
Musk did not cite any specific evidence for his claim.
Former officials at the treasury told the Times that individual federal agencies were responsible for ensuring that payments were above board. The agencies submit payments to the treasury, which in turn handles their disbursement.
During the 2023 fiscal year, the system paid out more than $5 trillion, according to the Times.
Musk’s efforts to gain access to the system had set off alarm bells for Democrat lawmakers, including Oregon senator Ron Wyden, who is on the Senate Finance Committee.
“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,” he wrote in a letter to Bessent on Friday. “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.”
After it was reported that Musk had gained access to the system, Wyden took to social media to express his concerns.
“Sources tell my office that Treasury Secretary Bessent has granted DOGE *full* access to this system,” he wrote on Bluesky. “Social Security and Medicare benefits, grants, payments to government contractors, including those that compete directly with Musk’s own companies. All of it.”
Musk, a tech billionaire, is the owner of Tesla and X. After backing Trump’s campaign for president, Musk was named to lead the cost-cutting initiative within Trump’s new administration.
