Allies of Twitter/Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who has been named head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) by Crook-in-Chief Donald Trump, are raising alarms among officials at the Department of the Treasury by demanding they be given access to a highly sensitive payment system which controls trillions of dollars.
Longtime Treasury official David A. Lebryk is so upset by the pressure being applied to him and others at the Treasury Department that he is “expected to leave the agency soon” despite having been named acting Treasury secretary last week.
According to the Washington Post, the breaking point for Lebryk was when he “had a dispute with Musk’s surrogates over access to the payment system the U.S. government uses to disburse trillions of dollars every year.”
“Typically only a small number of career officials control Treasury’s payment systems. Run by the Bureau of the Fiscal Service, the sensitive systems control the flow of more than $6 trillion annually to households, businesses and more nationwide. Tens, if not hundreds, of millions of people across the country rely on the systems, which are responsible for distributing Social Security and Medicare benefits, salaries for federal personnel, payments to government contractors and grant recipients and tax refunds, among tens of thousands of other functions.”
Just the fact that someone other than officials with the Treasury Department might be trying to gain access to the payment system has set off alarm bells among financial experts and journalists.
Julia Coronado, a clinical associate professor of finance at The University of Texas at Austin’s McCombs School of Business, noted, “The man whose rocket just exploded over south Florida in spectacular fashion, who had the FAA head removed because he dared to be concerned about his safety practices, who is a little too cozy with China will now have unfettered access to confidential Treasury payment systems… what could go wrong?”
Scott Imberman, a professor of economics at Michigan State University, echoed Coronado’s concerns.
“What the hell is Musk trying to do here? This is extremely sensitive data.”
And Seth Masket, a political scientist at the University of Denver, wondered why exactly Lebryk would choose to leave instead of staying and fighting back against allowing outsiders access to the payment system.
“I mean no specific criticism of Lebryk, and I know I’m watching from the cheap seats. But if US democracy is going to survive it’s going to require some decent people refusing to be bullied out of office by rich pricks outside the government and daring them to come get him.”
Notorious bank robber Willie Sutton was once asked why he robbed banks. His reply: “Because that’s where the money is.”
Elon Musk and his rich buddies know where the money is, and it appears they want the option of robbing us all blind as a way to further enrich themselves.
