Musk’s DOGE team granted access to US Treasury payments system

Representatives from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) were granted access to the federal payment system on Friday by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, providing Musk’s team with a new tool to monitor and limit government spending.

According to a report by The New York Times, the decision followed internal resistance from a top Treasury official who initially opposed giving Musk’s team access. That official was placed on leave and retired on Friday after the dispute, the report said.

The federal payment system is responsible for sending funds on behalf of the government, and access to it could support the Trump administration’s broader efforts to restrict spending on programs they oppose. Musk, who has been tasked by President Trump with identifying wasteful government expenditures, took to X on Saturday to claim that the Treasury Department has been approving fraudulent or improper 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. They literally never denied a payment in their entire career. Not even once," Musk posted.

The Musk aides who received access to the payment systems were designated as Treasury employees and underwent background checks to obtain security clearance. However, while access has been approved, the representatives do not yet have operational control over the system, and no payments have been blocked so far. Sources told The New York Times that the initiative is focused on reviewing and identifying improper payments rather than arbitrarily halting transactions. Treasury Department attorneys also approved the arrangement, ensuring that any modifications to the payment process would go through a review procedure.

Although DOGE is not an official government department, it operates under Trump’s directive with the goal of cutting inefficient government spending and reducing the size of the federal government. The team has already begun requesting access to financial and data systems of other federal agencies. When Trump signed the executive order on his first day in office creating DOGE, he outlined that government agency chiefs must provide the team with access to internal platforms such as "software systems, and IT systems."

The Treasury Department processes payments initiated by various government agencies, disbursing over $5 trillion in fiscal year 2023. Former officials have argued that it is the responsibility of individual agencies, not Treasury staff, to ensure payments are proper. However, Musk’s team is utilizing this resource in its efforts.