Fed and Treasury worked together to let Elon Musk’s D.O.G.E into US payment system

Federal Reserve officials worked directly with the Treasury Department to grant Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (D.O.G.E) access to critical federal payment systems, according to new court documents.

The filings reveal that Elon’s team held high-level meetings with government officials in Kansas City just days after Donald Trump took office, discussing how D.O.G.E could tap into sensitive Treasury databases.

Donald Trump and Elon Musk pose for a photo during the UFC 309 event at Madison Square Garden. Jeff Bottari—Zuffa LLC/Fortune

The records contradict what Jerome Powell, the Federal Reserve Chair, told Congress in February 2025 when he claimed the central bank had “no contact” with D.O.G.E.

However, the documents show that the Fed and Treasury had been in talks with Elon’s team about accessing federal payment infrastructure, a move that could reshape the flow of government money.

Elon’s team gained access to federal payment data

Two members of Elon’s D.O.G.E team, including Cloud Software Group CEO Thomas Krause, were present at the January meetings in Kansas City, where Treasury and Fed officials discussed the Payment Automation Manager (PAM) and the Automated Standard Application for Payments (ASAP).

These systems process $5.4 trillion in federal payments annually, handling everything from government contracts to Social Security disbursements.

Documents filed in a lawsuit by the Alliance for Retired Americans show that Marko Elez, a software engineer on the D.O.G.E team, had brief access to Treasury payment data before he was forced to resign over links to racist social media posts.

Elez was later rehired, and records show that both he and Krause held dual roles as Treasury employees and D.O.G.E team members at the time of the meetings.

A spreadsheet compiled after the meetings showed the status of Elon’s team’s access requests. Some were still pending, but others had already been marked “completed.”

In an email, Matthew Garber, who was then acting as the Fiscal Assistant Secretary, confirmed that Elez would receive read-only access to certain systems.

“For the items that Fiscal can implement independently we will get moving immediately, and Marko should see read-only soon,” Garber wrote. He also noted that legal teams were working on the language needed for Fed approval.

Congress questioned Powell on D.O.G.E’s access

The Kansas City meetings took place just two weeks before Powell appeared before the House Financial Services Committee on February 12, where Congresswoman Maxine Waters pressed Powell about whether the Federal Reserve had been working with Elon’s team.

“When Elon comes knocking at the Fed’s door, you going to let him in?” Waters asked.

“I don’t have anything for you on that,” Powell responded.

“Would you like to tell us today that you won’t let D.O.G.E into the Federal Reserve or have access to the systems and the data?” Waters pushed further.

“We’ve had no contact,” Powell said.

Despite his denial, the court filings show that the Fed’s leadership team had direct discussions with Treasury officials and D.O.G.E staff about access to federal financial infrastructure.

While the preliminary agenda for the Kansas City meetings did not list specific Fed officials by name, it identified them as “FRB leadership team”, with a note stating that a final list of participants would be added later.

The risk of prioritization and financial disruptions

D.O.G.E’s access to Treasury payment systems raises questions about how federal funds could be prioritized in a financial crisis. If the $36.1 trillion U.S. debt limit is reached, the Treasury Department could choose which payments get processed first.

This could mean bondholders receive their money before government contractors, federal employees, or even Social Security recipients.

A January 24 Treasury memo included in the lawsuit warned about the consequences of any disruption to daily payment operations.

“Any disruption to daily operations could have catastrophic consequences,” the Treasury’s memo said, while specifically pointing out that delays or failures in payment processing could lead to government defaults and interruptions in Social Security and other federal benefits.

During a Senate hearing on February 11, chair Powell was asked whether the Federal Reserve had any role in determining which payments are made during a debt crisis. He made it clear that those decisions come from the Treasury Department.

“We make no judgments whatsoever. Those are all made upstream from us and we are, in fact, the fiscal agent of the Treasury,” Powell said. The Fed’s role is to process payments as directed by the Treasury.

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