Elon Musk, who heads the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) under President Donald Trump, has expressed concern about inefficiencies in the U.S. government’s payment system, estimating that there could be more than $100 billion in fraud each year. Musk said he has been told that more than $100 billion a year is currently being paid to individuals without a Social Security Number (SSN) or even a temporary ID number, which is highly suspicious. He estimated that about half of this amount, or $50 billion a year, could be clear and obvious fraud.
To address this issue, Musk proposed several measures to improve transparency and accountability in government payments, including:
Requiring all government payments to have a payment classification code to facilitate financial audits.
Require a reason for each payment in the information field, instead of leaving it blank as it currently is.
Establish a “DO NOT PAY” list that includes fraudulent entities, deceased individuals, organizations linked to terrorism, or otherwise inconsistent with Congress-approved spending.
Musk stressed that these changes are being made by long-time government employees and not by the DOGE team. He argued that it is absurd that these fundamental and necessary changes have not been made before.
However, Musk and his team’s access to the US Treasury’s payment system has caused controversy. Some lawmakers and the public have raised concerns about the privacy and security of personal information, including people’s Social Security numbers. The Treasury Department has confirmed that Musk’s team only has “read-only” access to the payment system code and does not have the power to change or stop payments.
This has led to protests and lawsuits seeking to block DOGE’s access to the government’s payment system, citing privacy violations and lack of accountability.
The situation continues to evolve, with much discussion and debate about the role Musk and DOGE play in improving government efficiency and protecting citizens’ personal information.
Elon Musk and DOGE: Controversy over Treasury’s access to payment systems
