U.S. Lawmaker Raises Concerns Over Elon Musk’s Access to Treasury Payments System

A senior U.S. lawmaker has expressed concerns over Elon Musk’s access to a highly sensitive U.S. Treasury payments system used to disperse trillions of dollars to Americans each year. According to Senator Ron Wyden, representatives of Musk were granted "full access" to the system, which poses a "national security risk."

Authorization Granted to Musk’s Team

Sources told Wyden’s office that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent gave Musk’s team, known as the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), authorization to access the Treasury system on Friday. This comes after a standoff earlier in the week, in which the Treasury’s highest-ranking career official left the department following requests from Musk’s team for access to the system.

Concerns Over DOGE’s Access

Wyden warned that DOGE’s access to the system poses a risk to sensitive information, including Social Security and Medicare benefits, grants, and payments to government contractors. He also expressed concerns that Musk’s extensive business operations in China "endangers U.S. cybersecurity" and creates conflicts of interest that make his access to these systems a national security risk.

Background on the Treasury Payments System

The Treasury’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service controls the disbursements of around $6 trillion in federal funds to American households, including Social Security and Medicare benefits, tax refunds, and payments to U.S. federal employees and contractors. Access to the payments system was historically limited to a few staff because it contains personal information about millions of Americans who receive payments from the federal government.

Previous Incidents Involving China

Last year, the Biden administration blamed China for a series of intrusions targeting U.S. critical infrastructure, the theft of senior American officials’ phone records during breaches of several U.S. phone and internet giants, and a breach of the Treasury’s own systems late last year. Wyden expressed concern that granting access to sensitive systems to an individual with significant business interests in China is "unusual."

DOGE’s Expansion to Other Federal Departments

Several other federal departments are under scrutiny by DOGE, including the federal government’s own human resources department, known as the Office of Personnel Management. Reuters reported that Musk’s representatives locked out career civil servants from computer systems, which contain the personal data and human resources files of millions of federal employees.

Background on the OPM Hack

The OPM was hacked in 2015, resulting in the theft of personnel records on more than 22 million U.S. government employees, including staff with security clearances. The U.S. government later attributed the hack to China.