Musk’s reform team granted read-only access to Treasury’s payment system

WASHINGTON: After Democratic lawmakers raised concerns and called for an investigation, the US Treasury revealed on Tuesday that Elon Musk’s government reform team is allowed to view data from its sensitive payment system, but they cannot make any changes to it.

Musk, the world’s richest person, is leading President Donald Trump’s federal cost-cutting efforts under the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

As part of that initiative, he reportedly pushed for a team led by IT executive Tom Krause to be given access to the Treasury Department’s closely guarded payment system, which handles trillions of dollars of transactions, from Social Security and Medicare payouts to federal salaries.

In response, Democratic Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ron Wyden sent a letter on Tuesday to the congressional watchdog agency demanding it probe reports that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had personally granted Musk and his aides that permission.

The Treasury, in a letter sent to Parliament and shared with AFP, confirmed Krause’s team has access to the system but said it is "read-only access... in order to continue this operational efficiency assessment."

They said the permission was "similar to the kind of access that Treasury provides to individuals reviewing Treasury systems, such as auditors."

Musk’s efficiency drive has met with strong opposition from Democratic lawmakers, who have raised a wide range of legal and ethical concerns about his efforts to slash federal spending.

In a separate letter sent to Republican President Donald Trump on Tuesday, other Democratic policymakers expressed concern over DOGE’s work involving government data and facilities.

Labour unions and a grassroots advocacy group have also objected to the moves, filing a lawsuit calling on a federal judge to declare it illegal for Musk or others from DOGE to obtain personal information on taxpayers, and to block the Treasury Department from permitting that to happen.

In a post on X, the social media platform that he owns, Musk said on Monday that the "only way to stop fraud and waste of taxpayer money is to follow the payment flows and pause suspicious transactions for review."

Musk’s access to the payments system was approved by Bessent and made possible when a career official was placed on administrative leave after refusing to allow entry, according to the lawsuit. The official later retired.