MENG AND HOUSE COLLEAGUES DEMAND ANSWERS ON MUSK’S TREASURY ACCESS
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Grace Meng (D-Queens) announced today that she and 154 House Democrats sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent expressing concerns over Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) associates’ access to the federal government’s payment system, which includes sensitive personal data, and demanding answers on the extent of Musk’s access.
On Monday, Elon Musk and DOGE gained access to the federal government’s payment system, which is managed by the Treasury Department’s Bureau of Fiscal Service. This system serves as a payment intermediary for almost every federal agency. Nearly 90 percent of all government spending runs through the Bureau’s system. It contains highly sensitive details about hundreds of millions of Americans, including Social Security numbers, routing numbers, Social Security and Medicare payments, and other confidential financial information.
In the letter, Meng and other lawmakers wrote, “This system is responsible for delivering trillions in Social Security and Medicare benefits, tax refunds, and payments to government contractors. This action follows earlier reports that you removed an essential nonpartisan career Treasury official, who has played a critical role in preventing the United States from defaulting on its debt, due to his opposition to Mr. Musk’s actions. These recent developments raise serious questions about your ability to fulfill the essential functions of your role as Treasury Secretary and to protect the economic strength and security of the United States.”
Secretary Bessent recently forced out the top career official at the Bureau, who has played a critical role in preventing the United States from defaulting on its debt, before allowing Musk and his associates access to the highly sensitive systems.
“It is clear that Mr. Musk and his allies aim to overhaul the payments system to advance their own agenda,” the lawmakers continued. “He has made numerous comments suggesting that the government should not fund programs that contradict his personal politics.”
On Tuesday, Meng and several other Democrats joined a rally in front of the Treasury building in Washington, DC, calling the move a power grab and demanding answers about Musk’s access to the sensitive systems.
Led by Rep. Sean Casten, the letter was also signed by Reps. Alma Adams, Gabe Amo, Jake Auchincloss, Becca Balint, Nanette Barragán, Joyce Beatty, Donald Beyer, Sanford Bishop, Suzanne Bonamici, Brendan Boyle, Julia Brownley, Shontel Brown, Nikki Budzinski, Janelle Bynum, Salud Carbajal, André Carson, Troy Carter, Kathy Castor, Joaquin Castro, Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, Judy Chu, Gilbert Cisneros, Yvette Clarke, Emanuel Cleaver, Steve Cohen, Gerald Connolly, Jim Costa, Joe Courtney, Angie Craig, Jason Crow, Danny Davis, Madeleine Dean, Diana DeGette, Rosa DeLauro, Suzan DelBene, Christopher Deluzio, Mark DeSaulnier, Debbie Dingell, Sarah Elfreth, Veronica Escobar, Adriano Espaillat, Dwight Evans, Cleo Fields, Lizzie Fletcher, Bill Foster, Valerie Foushee, Laura Friedman, Maxwell Frost, John Garamendi, Robert Garcia, Sylvia Garcia, Jesús García, Daniel Goldman, Jimmy Gomez, Maggie Goodlander, Josh Gottheimer, Al Green, Raúl Grijalva, Jahana Hayes, Steven Horsford, Chrissy Houlahan, Steny Hoyer, Val Hoyle, Jared Huffman, Glenn Ivey, Jonathan Jackson, Sara Jacobs, Pramila Jayapal, Henry Johnson, Sydney Kamlager-Dove, Marcy Kaptur, William Keating, Robin Kelly, Timothy Kennedy, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Greg Landsman, John Larson, Rick Larsen, George Latimer, Susie Lee, Teresa Leger Fernandez, Mike Levin, Sam Liccardo, Ted Lieu, Stephen Lynch, Seth Magaziner, John Mannion, Sarah McBride, April McClain Delaney, Jennifer McClellan, Betty McCollum, Kristen McDonald Rivet, Morgan McGarvey, LaMonica McIver, Gregory Meeks, Robert Menendez, Dave Min, Joseph Morelle, Seth Moulton, Frank Mrvan, Kevin Mullin, Jerrold Nadler, Eleanor Norton, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Johnny Olszewski, Frank Pallone, Jimmy Panetta, Chris Pappas, Scott Peters, Brittany Pettersen, Chellie Pingree, Mark Pocan, Nellie Pou, Ayanna Pressley, Mike Quigley, Delia Ramirez, Emily Randall, Jamie Raskin, Deborah Ross, Linda Sánchez, Mary Gay Scanlon, Janice Schakowsky, Hillary Scholten, David Scott, Bobby Scott, Bradley Schneider, Brad Sherman, Mikie Sherrill, Lateefah Simon, Eric Sorensen, Melanie Stansbury, Greg Stanton, Haley Stevens, Suhas Subramanyam, Eric Swalwell, Emilia Sykes, Mark Takano, Shri Thanedar, Bennie Thompson, Dina Titus, Rashida Tlaib, Jill Tokuda, Paul Tonko, Ritchie Torres, Lori Trahan, Derek Tran, Sylvester Turner, Juan Vargas, Gabe Vasquez, Marc Veasey, Nydia Velázquez, Bonnie Watson Coleman, Nikema Williams.
A copy of the letter can be viewed here.