Treasury says DOGE review has ‘read-only’ access to federal payments system

An assessment of the Treasury Department’s payment system is occurring with “read-only” access by a tech executive hired as an “expert/consultant,” according to a letter sent Tuesday to a senator who had asked about the process.

The response, by the department’s Office of Legislative Affairs, comes as lawmakers, cybersecurity experts and privacy advocates have criticized reported activities by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The ad-hoc White House agency’s access to the Treasury’s payment system has already drawn a privacy lawsuit by labor union groups.

The letter says the executive, Tom Krause, is working for the Treasury as a “special government employee.” The category allows outsiders to serve in executive branch positions for a limited time. Musk reportedly is also working under that designation.

Krause, the chief executive of Cloud Software Group Inc., and the Treasury staff members working with him “will have read-only access to the coded data of the Fiscal Service’s payment systems” as part of their assessment, states the letter. A copy cited by news outlets was signed by Jonathan Blum of the Treasury’s Office of Legislative Affairs in response to an inquiry from Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR).

“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,” the letter states.

The Treasury system, housed in the Bureau of the Fiscal Service, handles trillions of dollars of federal payments each year. The department is “committed to safeguarding the integrity and security of the system, given the implications of any compromise or disruption to the U.S. economy,” the letter says.

The letter does not mention anyone other than Krause. Wired and Bloomberg News have reported that at least one other worker associated with Musk and DOGE had been given access to the payment system.

The White House said in a statement that DOGE is making the government more efficient and “restoring proper stewardship of the American taxpayer’s hard-earned dollars.”

“The ongoing operations of DOGE may be seen as disruptive by those entrenched in the federal bureaucracy, who resist change,” the statement said. “While change can be uncomfortable, it is necessary and aligns with the mandate supported by more than 77 million American voters.”

Suzanne Smalley contributed to this story.