WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Elon Musk’s government-efficiency team has been granted “read-only access” to the U.S. Treasury’s payment codes as part of a review they are conducting with the aim to “maximimize payment integrity,” a Treasury official wrote in a letter to a senior Democratic U.S. senator on Tuesday.

The ongoing review “is not resulting in the suspension or rejection of any payment instructions submitted to Treasury by other federal agencies across the government,” Jonathan Blum, principal deputy assistant secretary in the Office of Legislative Affairs wrote to Senator Ron Wyden, of Oregon.

“In particular, the review at the Fiscal Service has not caused payments for obligations such as Social Security and Medicare to be delayed or re-routed,” Blum’s letter said.

The team at Treasury conducting the review, under the auspices of Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, is led by technology firm chief executive Tom Krause, whom the letter described as a “Treasury employee.” Krause is CEO of Cloud Software Group, which owns former independent software firms Citrix and Tibco.

Wyden raised alarms over the weekend when reports first surfaced that a team under the direction of Musk, appointed by President Donald Trump to conduct a broad review of government operations, had gained access to the Treasury system responsible for more than $6 trillion of annual government spending for everything from Social Security to tax refunds.

“I’m sure the Treasury Secretary and the president want to save face and downplay the risks as Elon Musk seizes power, but nothing they’re saying is believable or trustworthy,” Wyden said in response to Blum’s letter.

“The American people can see what’s happening, and Secretary Bessent is asking them not to believe what’s playing out right in front of their eyes,” he said, referring to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

(Reporting By David Lawder and Dan Burns; Editing by Sonali Paul)

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