Musk: U.S. government efficiency department will suspend payments to contractors from the Treasury Department

Odaily News Musk said his "Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team" is halting payments to federal contractors, suggesting it may have access to sensitive systems used by the U.S. Treasury Department.
“Corruption and waste are being rooted out in real time,” Musk said in a post on X on Sunday, adding that DOGE was halting payments from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to Lutheran Family Services, a religious charity that has been providing social services to refugees. The Treasury Department did not immediately respond to questions about the scope of Musk’s access.
Musk's weekend announcement follows the departure last week of the Treasury Department's most senior career official, David Lebryk, who had been in charge of payments systems at the Bureau of the Fiscal Service.
The systems are tightly controlled and can contain sensitive information about taxpayers, contractors and beneficiaries. Treasury officials have long insisted that their job is to serve as the federal government’s checkbook and that the decision to approve or deny payments rests with individual agencies based on funds appropriated by Congress.
Musk added: “The DOGE team discovered that the payment approval officers at the Treasury Department were always instructed to approve payments, even to known fraud or terrorist organizations. They had never rejected a payment in their entire careers. Not once.” (Fortune)
Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal quoted sources as saying that the U.S. Treasury Department has agreed to allow Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to enter a payment system that distributes trillions of dollars in benefits, subsidies and tax refunds to Americans every year, which is usually managed by career civil servants. Finance Minister Bessant approved the move.