The Treasury Inspector General and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) are investigating the reported decision by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to allow the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to access government payment systems.
The investigations were announced in a Friday (Feb. 14) press release issued by the Democratic membership of the Senate Banking Committee, which included links to letters from the agencies sent in response to a request for an investigation from Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore.
In one letter, whose signer was redacted, the GAO said: “GAO accepts your request as work that is within the scope of its authority. As we discussed with your staff, given the broad congressional interest of this request, we are accepting this work with the understanding that any Member of Congress can sign on to the work as a co-requester. We plan to conduct one body of audit work and issue multiple reports, if needed.”
In the other letter included with the press release, Treasury Department Deputy Inspector General Loren J. Sciurba wrote that the Office of the Inspector General began an audit related to the Bureau of the Fiscal Service’s payment systems on Feb. 6.
The audit aims to determine the adequacy of controls in place for access to the payment system and for ensuring payments are made in accordance with laws, and to follow up on any allegations of improper or fraudulent payments made by the Fiscal Service, Sciurba said in the letter.
“Given the breadth of this effort, the audit will likely not be completed until August; however, we recognize the danger that improper access or inadequate controls can pose to the integrity of sensitive payment systems,” Sciurba wrote. “As such, if critical issues come to light before that time, we will issue interim updates and reports.”
It was reported Feb. 2 that Bessent gave DOGE access to the federal payment system that disburses money on behalf of the federal government. This access provides DOGE with a tool that can be used to monitor and limit government spending.
The members of the DOGE team who were given access to the system were made Treasury employees, passed government background checks and obtained security clearances. Treasury Department attorneys approved the granting of access.
