The U.S. Agency for International Development’s director of security and his deputy were placed on administrative leave Saturday after they tried to prevent employees from the Department of Government Efficiency from accessing secure USAID systems,

The Department of Government Efficiency, run by President Donald Trump’s billionaire adviser and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, has gained access to sensitive Treasury data including Social Security and Medicare customer payment systems.

Musk, CEO of X (formerly Twitter), has been on a posting spree, using his platform to justify and denigrate his takeover of USAID. He’s called the agency " evil ," a " criminal organization ," and a "viper’s nest of radical-left Marxists who hate America."

A senior U.S. lawmaker says representatives of Elon Musk were granted “full access” to a U.S. Treasury payments system used to disperse trillions of dollars to Americans each year, and warned that Musk’s access to the system poses a “national security risk.”

Elon Musk said his “DOGE team” of government efficiency enforcers is shutting down some payments to federal contractors, suggesting that the world’s richest man may have access to sensitive systems used at the US Treasury Department.

The system disbursed more than $5 trillion in FY2023. 'These payment systems simply cannot fail,' says Sen. Ron Wyden, who voiced concern about Musk's conflicts of interest.

The Department of Government Efficiency, led by tech billionaire Elon Musk, has reportedly gained access to the Treasury Department's payment system.

The system distributes entitlement benefits, grants and tax refunds. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent approved the move affecting representatives of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent gave Mr. Musk’s representatives at the so-called Department of Government Efficiency a powerful tool to monitor and potentially limit government spending.