Elon Musk's DOGE team reportedly gains control of US Treasury Department payment system - what it means

Elon Musk and his DOGE team have been granted access to the US Treasury Department's payment system, according to a report in the New York Times. The move follows a standoff between Musk's team and a top Treasury official, David Lebryk, who refused to grant access to the department's payment system. The official was reportedly put on leave and then retired after the dispute.

US Senator Ron Wyden (Democrat) confirmed the news in a post on Bluesky, stating“Sources tell my office that Treasury Secretary Bessent has granted DOGE *full* access to this system. Social Security and Medicare benefits, grants, payments to government contractors, including those that compete directly with Musk's own companies. All of it,”

Musk's allies, who were given access to the Treasury's payment system, were reportedly made employees of the department, underwent government vetting and received security clearances.

Why is Musk taking control of Treasury Department payment?

The payment system makes over $6 million in payments on behalf of US federal agencies and also contains personal information on millions of Americans who receive Social Security payments, tax refunds and other funds from the US government.

With Musk's team in control of the system, the Trump administration could restrict the disbursement of money approved by Congress for specific purposes, the New York Times reported.

Notably, the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, is not a government department but a team within the then Trump administration that has been given a broad mandate to cut US government spending, reduce the size of the federal workforce and bring more efficiency to the bureaucracy.

While DOGE teams have started demanding access to data at many other federal agencies, none of them control the flow of money in the way that Treasury does.

Musk was previously put in charge of DOGE along with Vivek Ramaswamy, but the Indian-origin Republican leader announced after Trump's oath-taking ceremony that he would be leading the team. According to a Politico report, Elon Musk wanted Ramaswamy - who is expected to run for governor of Ohio next - "out" of DOGE because of the 39-year-old entrepreneur's recent comments on H-1B visas.