WASHINGTON — Officials associated with Elon Musk’s initiative, dubbed the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), sought to gain access to the payment system of the U.S. Department of Treasury with the objective of halting payments to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), according to two sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to concerns over potential retaliation.
These efforts by DOGE to freeze USAID payments contradict representations made to federal lawmakers in a letter released on Tuesday, where it was stated that the department intended solely to audit the integrity of payments and that it had “read-only access” to the system. The sources revealed these details on Thursday, raising alarms among civil servants, Democratic lawmakers, and other stakeholders regarding the potential misuse of appropriated federal funds to further political agendas favored by Musk and the administration.
The USAID agency, responsible for providing humanitarian support internationally, has become a focal point of criticism from both President Donald Trump and Musk, who have labeled much of the agency’s expenditures as wasteful. Proponents of USAID, however, argue that its operations are critical for U.S. national security, helping to mitigate the influence of adversarial nations like Russia and China while also providing essential global humanitarian assistance.
In a recent ruling, a judge supported calls from advocacy groups and federal workers’ unions to prevent DOGE and Musk from accessing the federal payment systems. U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly imposed restrictions on the read-only access initially granted, limiting it to Tom Krause, a software executive, and Marko Elez, who previously reported to Krause at the Treasury Department but has since left his position. The White House was unreachable for immediate comments following the ruling.
The Fiscal Service of the Treasury Department is responsible for managing more than 1.2 billion transactions each year, which comprises approximately 90% of all federal disbursements, including vital programs like Social Security and Medicare. Notably, Krause, who is listed as the CEO of Cloud Software Group, serves as a special government employee at the Treasury and is subject to less rigorous ethical and financial oversight compared to regular federal employees.
David Lebryk, the acting deputy secretary of the Treasury Department, retired after over 30 years of service when DOGE and Krause pursued access to these sensitive financial data, as reported by the two sources.
Upon taking office, Trump immediately initiated a funding freeze at USAID, claiming that “the United States foreign aid industry” did not align with national interests. This freeze and the accompanying stop-work orders significantly impacted U.S. programs across more than 100 nations, which are valued in the billions.
Though the freeze was expected to last just 90 days, aid workers emphasized that the long-term repercussions globally would necessitate extensive resources and effort to rectify. Musk has continuously criticized USAID on social media, posting unverified claims about the agency as his DOGE team undermines its operations. Recently, he tweeted about taking drastic measures against USAID, stating that he had “spent the weekend feeding USAID into the wood chipper.”
Reports about attempts to block foreign aid payments gained attention following earlier coverage by a major newspaper.
