Musk department’s access to Treasury payments system threatens national security, says Wyden

TechCrunch reports that total access to the U.S. Treasury Department's payments system leveraged for Medicare and Social Security benefits and government contractor payments provided to the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency was regarded by Senate Finance Committee ranking member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., to be detrimental to national security.

Treasury's payment system "simply cannot fail, and any politically-motivated meddling in them risks severe damage to our country and the economy," said Wyden in a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, which also noted the cybersecurity risks and conflict of interest stemming from Musk's business interests in China. Such a development comes as DOGE — which was established by President Donald Trump to help his administration cut back federal spending — removed career civil servants' access from Office of Personnel Management computer systems, which house millions of federal employees' data. Over 22 million U.S. government workers had their information stolen in a Chinese hack of the OPM a decade ago.