Treasury watchdog begins audit of Musk team access to federal government’s payment system
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WASHINGTON — The Treasury Department’s Office of Inspector General on Friday said it was launching an audit of the security controls for the federal government’s payment system, after Democratic senators raised red flags about the access provided to Trump aide Elon Musk’s team.
The audit will also review the past two years of the system’s transactions as it relates to Musk’s assertion of “alleged fraudulent payments,” according to a letter from Loren J. Sciurba, Treasury’s deputy inspector general, that was obtained by the Associated Press.
The audit marks part of the broader effort led by Democratic lawmakers and federal employee unions to provide transparency and accountability about Musk and his team’s activities under President Trump’s Republican administration. The Musk team — which the tech billionaire has dubbed the “department of government efficiency,” or DOGE — has pushed for access to the government’s computer systems and sought to remove tens of thousands of federal workers.
“We expect to begin our fieldwork immediately,” Sciurba wrote. “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. As such, if critical issues come to light before that time, we will issue interim updates and reports.”
Billionaire Elon Musk was the focus of many in Washington this week, as his Department of Government Efficiency slashed at the federal bureaucracy.
The inspector general began the audit before Democratic lawmakers asked for it. A.J. Altemus, acting counsel to the inspector general, said “our work is independently initiated” and standards dictate that the audit “must be nonpartisan and objective. These standards remain unchanged.”
Musk, who continues to control Tesla, X and SpaceX among other companies, says he is finding waste, fraud and abuse while providing savings to taxpayers; however, many of his claims are unsubstantiated. But there is a risk that his team’s aggressive efforts could lead to the failure of government computer systems and enable Musk and his partners to profit off private information maintained by the government.
The audit would overlap with increased pressure that the Trump administration is placing on inspectors general, presidential appointees who are supposed to serve as an independent check against mismanagement and abuse of government power. In January, the administration fired several independent inspectors general at government agencies, a move that some members of Congress said violated federal oversight laws. The firings prompted a lawsuit filed on Wednesday in federal court in Washington that seeks to return the inspectors general to their jobs.
Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Ron Wyden of Oregon led the push for the inspector general office’s inquiry at the Treasury.
On Wednesday, Warren, Wyden and Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent noting the inconsistencies in the accounts provided by his department about Musk’s team.
The states’ lawsuit claims that Musk has “roamed through the federal government unraveling agencies, accessing sensitive data, and causing mass chaos and confusion.”
“Your lack of candor about these events is deeply troubling given the threats to the economy and the public from DOGE’s meddling, and you need to provide a clear, complete, and public accounting of who accessed the systems, what they were doing, and why they were doing it,” the Democratic lawmakers wrote in their letter.
The Treasury Department provided conflicting information about the Musk team’s access to the payment system. Initially, it claimed the access was read only, only to then acknowledge that a team member briefly had the ability to edit code, and then to say in an employee sworn statement that the ability to edit was granted by accident.
The 25-year-old employee granted the access, Marko Elez, resigned this month after racist posts were discovered on one of his social media accounts, only for Musk to call for his rehiring with the backing of Trump and Vice President JD Vance.
So far, Trump’s team has chosen to fight legal battles in court rather than defy judicial orders. Will that continue?
Advocacy groups and labor unions have filed lawsuits over the potential unauthorized access to sensitive Treasury payment systems, and five former Treasury secretaries have sounded the alarm on the risks associated with the Musk team accessing sensitive Treasury Department payment systems and potentially stopping congressionally authorized payments.
Earlier this week, the Treasury declined to brief a pair of the highest-ranking lawmakers on the Senate Finance Committee, including Wyden, on the ongoing controversy related to the Musk team’s use of Treasury payment systems, citing ongoing litigation.
Hussein and Boak write for the Associated Press.
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