Treasury watchdog will audit DOGE access to payment systems

The Treasury Department’s Office of Inspector General said it has opened an audit into the agency’s payments system after Department of Government Efficiency liaisons accessed the personal and financial information of Americans stored by the Bureau of Fiscal Service.

In letters to Democrats in the Senate and House, Loren Sciurba, Treasury’s deputy inspector general, said the OIG initiated the audit into Bureau of Fiscal Service systems before the lawmakers made the request last week. 

The audit will examine applicable payment system controls that have been in place since Oct. 1, 2024, in addition to the two most recent fiscal years “as it relates to alleged fraudulent payments.” 

Sciurba said the watchdog’s fieldwork is expected to begin immediately, but is unlikely to be finished until August “given the breadth of this effort.”  

“However, we recognize the danger that improper access or inadequate controls can pose to the integrity of sensitive payment systems,” Sciurba wrote. “As such, if critical issues come to light before that time, we will issue interim updates and reports.”

Treasury OIG’s goals with the audit, which was first reported by the Associated Press, are to determine whether current controls for granting or restricting access to BFS payment systems are adequate and if controls to ensure payments are sufficiently following laws, regulations and federal guidance. 

The watchdog said it would also “follow up on any allegations of improper or fraudulent payments made by Fiscal Service.”

Finally, Sciurba noted that Treasury OIG is coordinating with the Treasury Office of Inspector General for Tax Administration regarding IRS systems and the “highly sensitive information” contained in them. 

The audit comes amid growing concerns about the security of Americans’ personal and financial information following reports that Elon Musk surrogates, operating as DOGE liaisons to Treasury, had accessed Bureau of Fiscal Service payment systems as part of their so-called efficiency work.

Information stored in those BFS systems includes names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, birth places, home addresses and telephone numbers, email addresses, and bank account information of Americans who have transacted with the federal government.

The Treasury Department and Secretary Scott Bessent were sued by union groups over the access granted to two DOGE “special government” employees. A federal judge partially blocked their access; a different federal judge went a step further, granting a temporary restraining order to cut off access and ordering those who had accessed BLS information since Jan. 20 to “immediately destroy any and all copies of material downloaded from the Treasury Department’s records and systems.” The Department of Justice is seeking a reversal of that order.

A bill from more than 140 House Democrats, meanwhile, would bar the Treasury secretary from granting administrative control, use or access to any agency payment system or public money receipt, with exceptions given to eligible department officials, employees or contractors.