TechCrunch reports that total access to the U.S. Treasury Department's payments system leveraged for Medicare and Social Security benefits and government contractor payments provided to the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency was regarded by Senate Finance Committee ranking member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., to be a national security risk.
Treasury's payment system "simply cannot fail, and any politically-motivated meddling in them risks severe damage to our country and the economy," said Wyden in a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, which also noted the cybersecurity risks and conflict of interest stemming from Musk's business interests in China.
This news comes as DOGE — which was established by President Trump to help his administration cut back federal spending — removed career civil servants' access from Office of Personnel Management computer systems, which house millions of federal employees' data. Over 22 million U.S. government workers had their information stolen in a Chinese hack of the OPM a decade ago.
