Ellen B. Kennedy
Elon Must isn't just the world's richest person. He's also a man who recently gained access to every single taxpayer's personal financial data. That ability to view data from the U.S. Treasury is the subject of a legal tug-of-war. As of February 11, a judge has upheld a ban on such access until Friday, according to the AP.
On Jan. 31, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent granted members of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), including Musk, access to the U.S. Treasury’s federal payment system. This system disburses trillions of dollars each year for programs that include Social Security and Medicare.
With this move, Musk effectively gained access to the federal government’s checkbook, attaining a level of control that many find unsettling.
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The decision to grant Musk access to the Treasury’s payment system was not without controversy. David Lebryk, a top Treasury official who worked there for decades, was ousted after aiming to block Musk’s access.
Democrats push back
Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) questioned the decision to grant Musk access to the federal payment system. In a Jan. 31 letter, he stated, "I can think of no good reason why political operators who have demonstrated a blatant disregard for the law would need access to these sensitive, mission-critical systems."
Wyden also expressed concern that the mismanagement of the federal payment system could threaten the full faith and credit of the U.S., a concern echoed in a February 2 letter from Senator Elizabeth Warren (D. -Mass) to the new Treasury secretary. Wyden noted that Musk was not only denied high-level security clearance but that his business dealings overseas could put the U.S. at greater risk of a cybersecurity attack.
When asked about Musk's control of the U.S. Treasury payment system, President Donald Trump said, "We’ll give him the approval when appropriate; where not appropriate, we won’t."
In a Feb. 4 letter to Congress, Treasury officials stated that Musk's team had been given "read-only" access to its federal payment system. However, court filings show that a 25-year-old DOGE staffer, Marko Elez, was mistakenly given full access to payment systems on February 5. Mr. Elez resigned the next day, in part due to racist social media posts.
On February 7, the attorneys general of 19 states filed a suit. On Feb. 8, a federal judge, citing a risk of “irreparable harm,” temporarily restricted Elon Musk’s team from accessing a critical Treasury Department payment system. A Feb. 14 hearing is set for the matter.
Americans have questions
In late January, the White House was blocked from freezing federal grants and loans, and on February 6, a judge paused a buyout offer to federal employees just as the deadline was about to expire. Now, the concern shifts to other government programs Musk may or may not have the power to control. Here are a couple of the more pressing questions consumers will likely have.
Will you get your Social Security check on time?
Millions of Americans depend on Social Security's regular payments, which are processed through the Treasury payment system. There's no reason to believe that Social Security checks will be late due to DOGE's involvement. However, President Trump's offer to buy out federal workers may cause staffing shortages and disruptions that strain the system in unknown ways. The buyout was paused on February 6 and the pause was extended on February 10.
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and other senators wrote to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management that the Social Security Administration is already facing staff shortages, and reducing staff even further could increase wait times. "In 2024, the average wait time for service via phone was 45 minutes; in 2023 the average wait time for disability determinations was 230 days, and SSA staffing was at a 25-year low."
There's also no indication that Musk's team wants to stop your Social Security check. According to The New York Times, Musk intends to focus cost-cutting efforts on blocking improper payments across government agencies rather than stopping individual checks.
Democrats vowed to protect Social Security and other payments with a bill. “We must protect people’s Social Security payments, their Medicare payments, tax refunds, from any possible tampering by DOGE or any other unauthorized entities,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY.) said at a February 3 press conference.
Of course, the most significant risk to Social Security is its funding shortfall, as older Americans retire in droves and the program’s trust funds dwindle. There are no easy fixes. Potential solutions — including benefit cuts, raising the retirement age and tax increases — are politically difficult to enact. However, President Trump has stated that he will not touch Social Security.
That said, the Social Security Administration’s Office of the Inspector General found that between fiscal years 2015 and 2022, the agency lost almost $72 billion to improper payments, most of which were overpayments. Getting overpayments returned to Social Security fits within Musk's stated goal of blocking improper payments, though it would have only a marginal effect on the Social Security funding shortfall.
Why does Musk want access to Social Security data?
Musk and DOGE have been tasked with reducing wasteful government spending. Granting him access to Social Security data could, in theory, help his team identify fraud and put a stop to illegitimate payments.
On Feb. 11, Musk posted on X, "At this point, I am 100% certain that the magnitude of the fraud in federal entitlements (Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Welfare, Disability, etc) exceeds the combined sum of every private scam you’ve ever heard by FAR."
Only a few days earlier, he had posted on X that fraudulent payments could be costing taxpayers more than $100 billion per year.
Although Musk’s involvement in Social Security has been criticized broadly, the reality is that there is official data on record pointing to the mismanagement of funds. The Social Security Administration’s Office of the Inspector General found that between fiscal years 2015 and 2022, the agency lost almost $72 billion to improper payments, most of which were overpayments. Getting overpayments returned to Social Security fits within Musk's stated goal of blocking improper payments, though it would have only a marginal effect on the Social Security funding shortfall. And past attempts to claw back those overpayments have resulted in hardship for some Social Security beneficiaries.
On Feb. 10, Democrats rallied against Musk's newly granted access outside the Social Security Administration’s headquarters in Baltimore. “We have one simple message, which is: Elon Musk, keep your hands off of our Social Security,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said during the event's press conference.
Is your personal data safe?
In theory, Musk and his team now have access to every American’s Social Security number and, in many cases, their banking information. However, the team is still bound by the law, which means any attempt to use that information for commercial or other purposes would likely result in legal challenges from Congress.
What's less clear is that this new, unidentified team will protect Americans' data security.
Unfortunately, identity theft is rampant, and Americans need assurances that government data is secure. Musk has been criticized for poor privacy and security decisions at some of his companies. For example, Tesla has a spotty record when protecting user data.
Musk has floated the idea of using blockchain technology to track government payments and, ideally, to improve efficiency. Blockchain helps make payments more transparent and immutable, offering real benefits for tracking transactions. Some municipalities within the U.S. have piloted blockchain initiatives. However, this technology is still relatively young, and it's hard to know what kind of privacy issues might arise from its use in tracking the largest payment system in the world.
And speaking of privacy issues, DOGE is accessing Medicare and Medicaid systems.
According to the Wall Street Journal, DOGE personnel have been at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), with access to personal data systems. They are searching Medicare data for fraud and waste and reviewing CMS's staffing. The article quoted people familiar with this effort as saying that, to the best of their knowledge, DOGE has access to the contracting system but not personal medical data.
Whether you're a fan or a detractor of Elon Musk, ultimately, he is a private citizen who’s been handed the key to an unfathomably large vault. We are in uncharted territory.
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