Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent privately reassured Republican lawmakers Monday that Elon Musk and his team do not have control over a sensitive government system that manages the flow of trillions of dollars in payments, according to five lawmakers in the room for a closed-door meeting on Capitol Hill.
The remarks, relayed by lawmakers in the room who were granted anonymity to discuss a closed-door meeting, came during a two-hour gathering between Bessent and GOP members of the House Financial Services Committee Monday night that included a reception and dinner.
“Treasury has control of the Treasury payments system,” [Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.) ] said. He added that Musk’s DOGE team is focused on “reviewing the process to make sure there’s accountability, transparency, traceability, and making sure that there’s not lost payments, missing payments, hemorrhaging of taxpayer funds.”
House Financial Services Chair French Hill (R-Ark.) said in an interview following the dinner that “the idea that DOGE is going to make efficiency recommendations and offer recommendations on how to more effectively use IT systems for reducing fraud, enhancing payment reliability, enhancing payment accuracy and timeliness — those are good suggestions.”
Sen. Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, rejected the idea that Musk allies’ access to the payments system was as limited as Republicans and the administration are claiming.
“Why on earth should we believe that, particularly when he is saying the exact opposite, loudly and repeatedly for everyone to see?” Murray said.
Musk in recent days has said on X that his DOGE team was “rapidly shutting down” payments to Lutheran charities that provide refugee services. Musk also suggested — without offering any evidence — that career Treasury officials were breaking the law in approving some payments and had approved payments to known fraudulent organizations and terrorist groups.
Other Republican lawmakers on Monday also brushed aside criticism from Democrats that Musk and his team could abuse access to the system to shutter payments that Americans rely on.
“It’s important for them to be able to know what is being spent — and make certain it’s being spent A, the way Congress intended, and B, the way the President would want it to be spent,” said Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio). “Sometimes you have to go into the actual disbursement system, because that way you don’t get misinformation, which a lot of bureaucrats do.”
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