Elon Musk’s DOGE Getting Access to Treasury Payment Data Alarms Critics

Several analysts and commentators have spoken out against Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) gaining access to Treasury Department data.

Newsweek has contacted the White House and the Treasury Department, via email, for comment.

Why It Matters

DOGE, a task force run by billionaire Elon Musk which is working to cut wasteful federal spending, has been granted access to “sensitive Treasury data,” including Social Security and Medicare customer payment systems, The Associated Press reported, citing “two people familiar with the situation.”

It came after Treasury’s acting Deputy Secretary David Lebryk resigned from his position after more than 30 years of service, with The Washington Post reporting that this followed a clash with Musk’s allies over their attempts to gain access to the data. Neither the DOGE nor Lebryk commented on the story.

What To Know

The DOGE’s latest move has drawn criticism from some, including researcher and analyst Olga Lautman, who works for the Institute for European Integrity and the Center for European Policy Analysis.

She wrote in a thread on X, formerly Twitter: “I don’t want to be an alarmist, but this is insanely dangerous. Elon Musk, an unelected billionaire with no oversight, has gained access to the federal government’s payment system. And all of our data.”

Lautman continued in her Substack post: “DOGE is not a real government agency, yet it has been given the power to monitor and potentially block federal payments, including Social Security checks, Medicare reimbursements, federal employee salaries, and tax refunds.

“Even more concerning, the federal payment system contains sensitive personal information about all of us—millions of Americans who receive these payments. Why does Musk have access to our sensitive information? And, what is he planning to do with it?”

Similarly, Phumzile Van Damme, a tech and human rights fellow at Harvard University, wrote on X: “Let me tell you why. Let me tell you about the new gold rush. The rush for the most valuable commodity in the digital age: personal data. And one man, one Elon Musk, just hit the motherlode. He was handed keys to your vault.

“Once, fortunes were built on gold and oil. Now, they’re built on you—your clicks, searches, habits, and digital shadow. Data is a multi-trillion-dollar industry. Combined with your Social Security number, address, and more? That’s the finest gold.”

She continued: “By combining Twitter’s vast behavioral data with personal info, one individual, not an elected government. Musk now controls the single most comprehensive dataset on virtually every American with no checks, transparency, or accountability & use it to amass more wealth.

“The implications are staggering. Musk now has control over political discourse, financial transactions, and identity verification. He has the ability to shape public opinion, influence elections, and consolidate power in unprecedented ways.”

What People Are Saying

Musk responded to Lebryk’s resignation on Saturday in a post on X, saying: “The DOGE team discovered, among other things, that payment approval officers at Treasury were instructed always to approve payments, even to known fraudulent or terrorist groups. They literally never denied a payment in their entire career. Not even once.”

He had written this while sharing a post made by conservative filmmaker Robby Starbuck, who said: “The highest ranking Treasury official, David A Lebryk, is resigning rather than complying with a request by DOGE for access to audit where they’ve spent trillions of dollars a year. Why would career bureaucrats fear an audit by Elon Musk and DOGE to see where we can save money?”

Starbuck later added: “That is absolutely insane. How many billions or trillions have they wasted in recent years? I bet the fraud is massive. If these officers knew *everything* was approved… Did any of their friends or family get paid fraudulently? Will likely need to be investigated!”

Newsweek has contacted the Treasury Department via email for comment on Lebryk’s behalf.

What Happens Next

The White House and the Treasury have not yet commented on the DOGE’s access. The extent of what impact it will have is yet to be seen.