Posted on 02/01/2025 6:44:37 PM PST by E. Pluribus Unum
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent gave representatives of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency full access to the federal payment system late on Friday, according to three people familiar with the change, handing Elon Musk and the team he is leading a powerful tool to monitor and potentially limit government spending.
The new authority follows a standoff this week with a top Treasury official who had resisted allowing Mr. Musk’s lieutenants into the department’s payment system, which sends out money on behalf of the entire federal government. The official, a career civil servant named David Lebryk, was put on leave and then suddenly retired on Friday after the dispute, according to people familiar with his exit.
The system could give the Trump administration another mechanism to attempt to unilaterally restrict disbursement of money approved for specific purposes by Congress, a push that has faced legal roadblocks.
Mr. Musk, who has been given wide latitude by President Trump to find ways to slash government spending, has recently fixated on Treasury’s payment processes, criticizing the department in a social media post on Saturday for not rejecting more payments as fraudulent or improper.
It is not clear whether the team led by Mr. Musk, the world’s wealthiest man, has blocked any payments since gaining access to the system.
The Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, is not a government department, but a team within the administration. It was put together at Mr. Trump’s direction by Mr. Musk to fan out across federal agencies seeking ways to cut spending, reduce the size of the federal work force and bring more efficiency to the bureaucracy. Most of those working on the initiative were recruited by Mr. Musk and his aides.
Similar DOGE teams have begun demanding access to data and systems at other federal agencies, but...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Excellent, just excellent. We may all have to suffer for a while, but it WILL be better after they slash the numbers in the Federal government.
Reminds me of when in Die Hard the message I have a machine gun now arrives by elevator.
The Barbarians are inside the gates!!!!
Balin, NYT
Well I dont’t like it. I don’t trust Musk.
I can’t wait to see what Musk flushes out of this rats nest.
I’ll bet tens of billions were sent without the slightest safeguards in place.
L
“Well I dont’t like it..”
The fainting couch is down the hall to your left. Don’t forget your pearls.
“I don’t trust Musk.”
Do you trust President Trump?
L
Without Musk's purchase of Twitter and reinstatement of Trump and hundreds of other conservative Twittees, Trump would never have been reelected.
Well I dont’t like it. I don’t trust Musk.
We’ll see soon just how much patience middle America will have during this process.
OH NO! ANYWAY
Nice!! Slash away, DOGE!
Now we can find out if and how much of our money was given to terrorists.
Yeah I think Musk can be bought! Just like Trump! /sarc
This is more fun by the day.
Absolutely. He never makes mistakes in hiring. Omarosa should be back any day now.
“Ho ho ho!”
“the so-called Department of Government Efficiency”
Sounds like the NY Slimes is bothered by this...
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