WASHINGTON — The Government Accountability Office and the Treasury inspector general said that they will investigate the Department of Government Efficiency's access to Treasury's payments data.
Both the GAO and the office of the Treasury inspector general told Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., the ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee, and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, that they have launched probes into DOGE employees' access to the sensitive federal payment systems located at the Treasury Department.
DOGE — a unit within the executive branch tasked with cost-cutting, run by billionaire Elon Musk — gained access to the Treasury Department's records,
A federal judge has temporarily blocked DOGE's access to the systems, following a suit brought by 19 state attorneys general,
"It is unclear why Musk and unknown individuals on his team were granted unfettered access to this information, and what protections are in place to ensure Americans' privacy is protected," Warren and Wyden said in their letter to the GAO. "With access to these critical systems, Musk, DOGE employees, or others in the Trump Administration could use this as a cover to unilaterally restrict or defund programs Americans rely on."
The Treasury inspector general audit will review the security controls for the Treasury's payment system, as well as follow up on any allegations of improper or fraudulent payments.
"We expect to begin our fieldwork immediately," said Deputy Inspector General Loren Sciurba in a letter to Warren and Wyden. "Given the breadth of this effort, the audit will likely not be completed until August; however, we recognize the danger that improper access or inadequate controls can pose to the integrity of sensitive payment systems."
Sciurba said that, because of that danger, the office would issue interim reports if necessary.
The GAO told Wyden and Warren that the two lawmakers' requests were "within the scope of its authority." The senators last week asked the GAO to investigate and determine which systems were accessed, which individuals accessed them and whether they have appropriate clearance.
Consumer and employees groups are seeking a restraining order against CFPB acting Director Russell Vought, arguing that he was unlawfully installed and has "no power to direct" the bureau.
They also asked about Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's role in granting access to the data.
Democrats, including Warren, have rallied against DOGE's dismantling of federal agencies, particularly at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Warren told American Banker earlier this week that bankers should be concerned about the extent to which DOGE can access the confidential supervisory information about banks that the CFPB holds.
"No one has been able to independently verify what information they've got and what they've done with that information," Warren said.
She underlined the connection between Musk and his ambitions for X Money, and DOGE's and current CFPB acting Director Russell Vought's
"This is a kind of conflict that we have literally never seen at the federal government level," she said. "This is a bank robber who is firing the cops before he strolls into the bank lobby, and also someone who's playing the puppet master of checking out what every single competitor is doing so that Elon Musk can then figure out where the business opportunities lie."
