Warren presses Treasury secretary over Musk access to payments system

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent Monday demanding to know what access Elon Musk was given to the federal payments system and what safeguards were implemented to protect Americans’ private data and prevent abuses.

“I write regarding a disturbing report that — in one of your first acts after your confirmation as Treasury secretary — you have given Elon Musk and his surrogates ‘full access’ to the federal government’s critical payment systems, which includes the sensitive personal information of millions of Americans,” Warren wrote in a letter to Bessent, whom the Senate confirmed last week.

Warren warned “it is extraordinarily dangerous to meddle with the critical systems that process trillions of dollars of transactions each year.”

She said she was “alarmed” by reports that Bessent reportedly “sidelined” an official responsible for managing the extraordinary measures the Treasury Department needs to extend federal borrowing authority, which formally expired last month.

Treasury’s highest-ranking career official, David Lebryk, left the department last week after reportedly clashing with Musk over access to the payments system.

Warren says she wants answers about Bessent’s role in what she called “this security and management failure” and about “How you intend to protect the integrity of the federal government’s financial operations after handing over the systems to Mr. Musk’s team.”

She noted that the federal payments system controls the flow of $6 trillion in payments related Social Security, Medicare, federal salaries, government payments, grants and tax refunds.

She said that the system has historically been “closely held” because it includes sensitive personal information of tens of millions of Americans.

She expressed her concerns that Musk could act unilaterally to shut off federal programs and funding obligations.

“Controlling the system could allow the Trump administration to ‘unilaterally’  — and illegally — cut off payments for millions of Americans, putting at risk the financial security of families and businesses based on political favoritism or the whims of Mr. Musk and those on his team who have worked their way inside,” she wrote.

She asked Bessent to confirm reports that Musk and his team gained access to the payments systems and to disclose specifically who has gained access and to which systems.

She also asked for details about what safeguards are in place to protect Americans’ personal and private data, to protect national security and to protect the integrity of the payments system.

She requested that Bessent provide answers by Feb. 7.