Treasury says DOGE review has ‘read-only’ access to federal payments system

U.S. Treasury’s Office of Legislative Affairs says tech executive Tom Krause, linked to Elon Musk’s DOGE initiative, has read-only access to the Fiscal Service’s payment systems as a special government employee to assess them, a move drawing scrutiny from lawmakers, experts, and privacy advocates. The letter frames the access as auditor-like and security-conscious, while reports suggest additional DOGE-linked personnel involvement and a labor union privacy lawsuit, and the White House defends DOGE’s efficiency mission.