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…after #Trump took office, as #ElonMusk’s team began pressing for access to the #Treasury Dept’s payments system, ofcls repeatedly said their goal was to undertake a general review of the system. They said they would observe, but not stop money from going out the door.
But emails reviewed by NYT show Treasury’s chief of staff originally pushed for #TomKrause, a software exec affiliated w/ #Musk’s DOGE, to receive access to the closely held payment system so Treasury could freeze #USAID payments.

In a Jan 24 email to a small group of #Treasury ofcls, the chief of staff, #DanKatz, wrote that Krause & his team needed access to the system so they could pause #USAID payments & comply w/ #Trump’s Jan 20 #ExecutiveOrder to halt #ForeignAid.

“To the extent permitted by #law, we would like to implement the pause as soon as possible in order to ensure that we are doing our role to comply with the EO,” Katz wrote.

The emails viewed by NYT undercut #Treasury’s explanation for why Krause & his team were given access to the payment system. That system disburses >$5T in funding on behalf of much of the federal govt.

The department, now led by Secy #ScottBessent, has said that Krause, a Treasury staff member, & his team are conducting an “operational efficiency assessment” that does not involve blocking agency payments.

The possibility of systems at the #Treasury’s little-known Bureau of the Fiscal Service being used to stop congressionally authorized spending has stoked alarm among #Democrats, who have called for investigations & led protests at the Treasury building.

#DavidLebryk, formerly the top career official at the Treasury, rebuffed the request to grant access & pause the #aid payments.

“I don’t believe we have the legal authority to stop an authorized payment certified by an agency,” he wrote to the group on Jan 24. #DavidLebryk, who had been a federal employee for >35 years, was pushed out of his job days later for refusing to give Krause access to the system. Late on Jan. 31, a Friday, #ScottBessent authorized entry for a team led by Krause after Lebryk’s departure.

…After public sector #unions sued over the issue, a #Trump #DOJ lawyer said in court on Wed that only #TomKrause & #MarkoElez, both *#Treasury employees*, had been given access to info in the system, which they have not shared outside the Treasury.

Marko Elez, a fmr employee of #ElonMusk’s at both X & xAI, is one of several staffers that #DOGE had planned to install at the Treasury. They also include Krause, a well-established #SiliconValley software exec;

#AramMoghaddassi, who has worked for both X & #ElonMusk’s Neuralink; & #MichaelRusso, a #SiliconValley exec who has since been named chief info officer of the #SocialSecurity Admin.

…The push for access to the #Treasury sys came as the #Trump admin moved to dismantle #USAID, the govt’s lead agency for providing #humanitarian assistance globally. Much of the agency’s #workforce will be put on leave this week, & contracts have been halted.