Treasury: Musk Has ‘Read Only’ Access to US Payment Systems

The U.S. Treasury says Elon Musk has only limited access to America’s payment systems.

As the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported Tuesday (Feb. 4), the Treasury Department says it is carrying out an “operational efficiency assessment” of its payment systems and it hasn’t suspended or rejected any payment instructions.

This came after representatives of Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) gained — as the WSJ puts it — “unusual access” to the system, sparking protests from Democratic lawmakers and former Treasury officials.

In a letter to lawmakers, the department said the DOGE representatives will have “read-only access” to coded data in the systems at the Bureau of the Fiscal Service. The letter didn’t specify whether the employees would have access to the underlying software that runs the payment systems or whether DOGE-affiliated employees could edit computer code.

“This is similar to the kind of access that Treasury provides to individuals reviewing Treasury systems, such as auditors, and that follows practices associated with protecting the integrity of the systems and business processes,” said the letter, signed by Jonathan Blum, principal deputy assistant secretary for legislative affairs at Treasury.

DOGE’s effort is being spearheaded by Tom Krause, a tech executive brought on as a “special government employee,” the WSJ report said.

As part of the group’s other cost-cutting efforts, DOGE is trying to convince federal employees to take buyouts. So far, the organization said earlier this week, more than 20,000 workers have agreed to the offer. That’s 1% of the government workforce, far below the 5%-10% figure Musk had been targeting.

Speaking with PYMNTS CEO Karen Webster earlier this week, Amias Gerety — a high-ranking Treasury official under the Obama administration — said that litigation is certain if DOGE tries to interfere with payments. He added that the notion of a loosely defined organization such as DOGE meddling in this process was a “10-alarm fire.”

“This will end up in the courts if they stop payments,” Gerety, investor partner at QED, told Webster. “The mere fact of access, of read-only access, probably isn’t litigable. But the moment they try to block, delay or divert payments, lawsuits will fly.”

Concerns about DOGE’s efforts appear to have reached the White House, at least on some level. President Donald Trump said earlier this week that Musk has no authority to let workers go without the administration’s permission.

“Elon can’t do and won’t do anything without our approval, and we’ll give him the approval where appropriate,” Trump said. “Where not appropriate, we won’t.”

Noting that Musk — in addition to his DOGE duties — oversees several large companies, Trump added, “If there’s a conflict, then we won’t let him get near it.”