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Nearly all staffers from the Elon Musk-headed Department of Government Efficiency are expected to be temporarily restricted from directly accessing the Treasury Department systems responsible for nearly all payments made by the U.S. government.
Employees of DOGE, an advisory body tasked with cutting programs and slashing federal spending, were believed only to have access to the highly sensitive systems within the Bureau of the Fiscal Service.
Attorneys from the Department of Justice agreed to the Trump administration motion filed on Wednesday night to limit access to payment systems. U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly must sign off on the DOJ’s proposed order.
“The Defendants will not provide access to any payment record or payment system of records maintained by or within the Bureau of the Fiscal Service,” the filing states.
There are, however, exceptions for two special government employees at the Treasury affiliated with DOGE: Marko Elez, a young engineer previously working for two of Musk’s companies; and Tom Krause, the CEO of cloud software group.
The order states that the employees are permitted access to payment records on a read-only basis “as needed” to perform their duties.
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It came as the Treasury Department was embroiled in a lawsuit from three federal employee unions attempting to block DOGE’s access to sensitive information and alleged “massive and unprecedented” sharing of data.
On Friday, incoming Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent granted access to the payment systems, according to the Washington Post.
“[Bessent] decided behind closed doors to allow individuals not involved in the processing of the government’s financial transactions to root around in the Bureau’s records. Giving access to those records is unlawful,” according to the complaint.
The non-government department faced further flak after two sources told Wired that Elez, a 25-year-old engineer affiliated with DOGE, could both read and write code on two payment systems that process trillion dollars every year, managing federal payments including Social Security benefits and federal tax returns.
Critics have grown concerned that DOGE’s control of those mechanisms grants leeway to obstruct the flow of money to specific federal agencies or individuals.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Wednesday that DOGE is not allowed to write new code.
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According to Elez’s social media profiles – including his now-removed LinkedIn and a Twitter page reviewed by The Independent – he graduated from New Jersey’s Rutgers University in 2021 and subsequently worked at SpaceX as a software engineer. Musk’s tech prodigy then joined X where he worked on search AI.
He is not believed to have previous government experience.
The system is said to include the Payment Automation Manager and Secure Payment System of the Bureau of the Fiscal Service, a nonpartisan arm of the Treasury Department that manages federal payments including Social Security benefits and federal tax returns.
Three sources told Wired that Elez, who allegedly visited a Kansas City office housing the Payment Automation Manager and Secure Payment System of the Bureau of the Fiscal Service, was granted administrator-level privileges.
Musk has allegedly placed young surrogates in DOGE aged between 19 and 24 years old in key positions across the government.
