Elon Musk claimed the Treasury Department authorized fraudulent payments and questionable spending of federal funds after his team gained access to government systems. He alleges the discovery of payments to terrorist groups and instructed approval officers to always approve payments, even to fraudulent entities. Democrats criticize the administration's decision to grant Musk access and express concerns about potential damage to the payment system. Musk aims to identify $1 trillion in savings and DOGE, a non-governmental agency, has targeted foreign aid programs for elimination.
Elon Musk asserted that the Treasury Department has authorized fraudulent payments and other questionable uses of federal tax dollars following his team's access to government systems over the weekend. Musk's initiative aims to reduce government spending and the deficit.
The Department of Government Efficiency, a non-governmental body established via executive order, has been investigating government payment systems since President Donald Trump's inauguration in search of spending cuts and wasteful expenditures of taxpayer funds. \Musk stated on Saturday that his team identified multiple fraudulent payments and disbursements to terrorist groups after gaining access to the federal government's payment system. This system, essentially functioning as the government's checkbook for congressionally approved payments, processes trillions of dollars for the entire federal government. '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,' Musk wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. \Musk and others have been emphasizing what they perceive as questionable payments for programs deemed inefficient use of taxpayer dollars and contributing to the deficit through wasteful spending. Democrats have criticized the administration for granting Musk and DOGE, a non-governmental agency, access to the system and for attempts to halt governmental payments. Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, the leading Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, informed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent that his decision to grant access was jeopardizing the payment system. 'To put it bluntly, these payment systems simply cannot fail, and any politically-motivated meddling in them risks severe damage to our country and the economy,' Wyden stated in a letter to Bessent. 'I am deeply concerned that following the federal grant and loan freeze earlier this week, these officials associated with Musk may have intended to access these payment systems to illegally withhold payments to any number of programs.' \Musk has pledged to identify at least $1 trillion in savings for the federal government as the Republican-controlled Congress seeks solutions to fund tax cuts and increased resources for immigration enforcement. DOGE claims to have already achieved this by canceling contracts related to diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives across the federal government. The controversy surrounding access to the payment system coincides with DOGE's significant efforts to eliminate foreign aid programs as a means of reducing government spending. The U.S. Agency for International Development, the humanitarian arm of the federal government, has been targeted by DOGE for closure. During a livestream on X, Musk announced early Monday morning that Trump agreed with him that the agency should be shut down. He stated that he 'went over it with (Trump) in detail and he agreed we should shut it down.' 'It became apparent that it’s not an apple with a worm in it. What we have is just a ball of worms. You’ve got to basically get rid of the whole thing. It’s beyond repair,' Musk said during the X Spaces stream. \Eliminating the agency or merging it into another federal department would necessitate multiple lawsuits without congressional approval, which may prove challenging for Republicans with narrow majorities in the House and Senate and opposition from Democrats. 'It is imperative that we maintain an independent development voice and capability within the U.S. government. USAID is, by statute, an independent establishment outside of the State Department,' congressional Foreign Relations Democrats stated in a letter to USAID’s acting head. 'Any proposal to modify that structure would require an Act of Congress.' \USAID oversees humanitarian, development, and security programs in over 100 countries. Musk and other DOGE supporters have highlighted these programs since gaining access to its payment data. The move to close it down follows Secretary of State Marco Rubio's freezing of most foreign aid as part of a 90-day review that was later amended to exempt “life saving programs” involving medicine, medical services, food, and shelter. 'It’s been run by a bunch of radical lunatics. And we’re getting them out,' Trump stated to reporters about USAID on Sunday night
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