Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent granted Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency access to the Bureau of the Fiscal Service's central payment system, which processes approximately $5.45 trillion in annual federal payments including Social Security benefits, tax refunds, and federal salaries. The move came after David Lebryk, a career Treasury official who had resisted DOGE access demands, was forced to resign.
The administration initially agreed to limit access to "read-only" for two DOGE-affiliated Treasury employees, but the scope and nature of access remained contested. Democratic senators raised alarms about the unprecedented access granted to operatives connected to a private billionaire with extensive government contracts. The access triggered immediate legal challenges from state attorneys general and advocacy organizations, setting up weeks of court battles over the boundaries of DOGE's authority within federal financial systems.