WASHINGTON (AP) — The Treasury Department’s Office of Inspector General on Friday said it was launching an audit of the security controls for the federal government’s payment system, as Democratic lawmakers raised red flags about the access provided to Trump aide Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency team.
The audit will also review the past two years of the system’s transactions as it relates to Musk’s assertion of “alleged fraudulent payments,” according to a letter from Loren J. Sciurba, Treasury’s deputy inspector general, that was obtained by The Associated Press.
The audit marks part of the broader effort led by Democratic lawmakers and federal employee unions to provide transparency and accountability about DOGE’s activities under President Donald Trump’s Republican administration. The Musk team has pushed for access to the government’s computer systems and sought to remove tens of thousands of federal workers.
“We expect to begin our fieldwork immediately,” Sciurba wrote. “Given the breadth of this effort, the audit will likely not be completed until August; however, we recognize the danger that improper access or inadequate controls can pose to the integrity of sensitive payment systems. As such, if critical issues come to light before that time, we will issue interim updates and reports.”
Treasury’s inspector general began the audit before Democratic lawmakers asked for it. A. J. Altemus, acting counsel to the inspector general, said “our work is independently initiated” and standards dictate that the audit “must be non-partisan and objective. These standards remain unchanged.”
Tech billionaire Musk, who continues to control Tesla, X and SpaceX among other companies, claims to be finding waste, fraud and abuse while providing savings to taxpayers. Many of his claims are so far unsubstantiated. But there is a risk that his team’s aggressive efforts could lead to the failure of government computer systems and enable Musk and his partners to profit off private information maintained by the government.
The audit would overlap with increased pressure that the Trump administration is placing on inspectors general, presidential appointees who are supposed to serve as an independent check against mismanagement and abuse of government power. In January, the administration fired several independent inspectors general at…