Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Tuesday defended his decision to give members of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency access to the systems that disburse millions of payments to Americans, including Social Security checks. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who had criticized that decision, said his response raised “more questions than answers.”
The Bureau of the Fiscal Service is undergoing an operational efficiency assessment that started under the prior administration, Bessent told Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, in a letter. That review "has not caused payments for obligations such as Social Security and Medicare to be delayed or re-routed,” he wrote.
Treasury staff members have been given "read only" access to the system’s data in order to continue the review, which "is not resulting in the suspension or rejection of any payment instructions submitted to Treasury by other federal agencies across the government," Bessent told Warren.
Warren requested Monday that Bessent “provide clarity” by Feb. 7 on his role in providing Musk and his team at DOGE access to Treasury payment systems.
Bessent's response "raises more questions than answers,” Warren said Wednesday in a statement. “It asserts that a set of Treasury staff members have 'read-only' access but fails to answer questions about non-Treasury employees,” like those working for Musk and DOGE.
Treasury’s assertions “are inconsistent with multiple public reports," Warren said. "Secretary Bessent needs to explain how this incursion was authorized, who had or has access to critical Treasury systems, and what protections are in place to protect the economy, national security, and Americans’ private data.”
Bessent went on to explain that "Treasury staff members working with Tom Krause, a Treasury employee, will have read-only access to the coded data of the Fiscal Service’s payment systems in order to continue this operational efficiency assessment. 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."
Further, Bessent told Warren, Krause "is conducting this effort in coordination with veteran career Treasury officials, and all operational processes continue to be conducted only by career Treasury staff in accordance with all standard security, safety, and privacy standards."
Krause, the CEO of Cloud Software Group, has been hired as a “special government employee,” Bessent said, “pursuant to applicable law.” The hiring process demands “the same ethical standards of privacy, confidentiality, conflicts of interest assessment, and professionalism of other government employees," Bessent said.
These assessments, Bessent added, "are conducted by career legal and ethics officials," and "Krause is subject to the same security obligations and ethical requirements, including a Top Secret security clearance."
DOGE Medicare Review
The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that DOGE members have been working this week at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, where they have gotten access to key payment and contracting systems.
"The DOGE representatives have been on site at the agency’s offices this week," the Journal reported, "and they are looking at the systems’ technology as well as the spending that flows through them, with a focus on pinpointing what they consider fraud or waste."
Calls for Investigation
Warren, along with Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., called on the Government Accountability Office to investigate Bessent’s decision.
"These critical systems process trillions of dollars of transactions each year, including the timely disbursement of Social Security checks, tax refunds, and Medicare benefits, and are essential to preventing a default on federal debt," the senators said.
Warren questioned Bessent on his role in providing Musk and his team access to Treasury payment systems, along with his role in ousting David Lebryk, the department’s top career official, who raised concerns about the move.
On Monday, two labor unions and an advocacy group for retired union members sued Bessent for granting DOGE access to Treasury's payment systems, stating, "The scale of the intrusion into individuals’ privacy is massive and unprecedented.”
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