Musk team now has access to US' payment system

THE DEPARTMENT OF Government Efficiency, run by President Donald Trump's billionaire adviser and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, has gained access to sensitive Treasury data, according to two people familiar with the situation.

- ASSOCIATED PRESS

The system sends out more than $6 trillion per year in payments on behalf of federal agencies and contains the personal information of millions of Americans who receive Social Security payments, tax refunds and other monies from the government.

The move by DOGE, a Trump administration task force assigned to find ways to fire federal workers, cut programs and slash federal regulations, means it could have wide leeway to access important taxpayer data, among other things.

The New York Times first reported the news of the group's access of the massive federal payment system.

The two people who spoke to The Associated Press spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.