National News
Representatives from Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency gained access over the weekend to the federal payment system, which deals with $6 trillion each year.
Boston College history professor Heather Cox Richardson, who writes the Substack newsletter “Letters from an American,” described Elon Musk’s actions over the weekend involving the federal Treasury as a “coup,” and Sen. Elizabeth Warren called on Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent for answers.
Representatives from Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency gained access Friday to the federal payment system — what Cox Richardson described as the “checkbook for the United States.” Known for breaking down today’s politics with historical context, Cox Richardson explained the implications of Musk’s team having obtained such secure information in a 30-minute video on Facebook Live Sunday.
The Office of Management and Budget uses that federal payment system to handle about $6 trillion annually, she said, and it includes sensitive information like social security numbers and tax returns for every taxpaying American.
“Think of what that means Elon Musk’s people have access to,” Cox Richardson said.
She called it “the largest data breach in human history.”
Acquiring the system could be another avenue for the Trump administration to restrict the disbursement of money, which has so far faced legal hurdles, the New York Times reported. The administration’s efforts to freeze federal funding were halted by two federal judges last week.
Cox Richardson emphasized Musk is “not an elected member of the government.” Though he was appointed by Trump to lead DOGE, as it’s known, that is not an official government agency created