Thu Feb 06 20:20:00 UTC 2025: **Trump Administration’s Attempted Control of USAID Funds Sparks Controversy**

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A newly revealed email exchange reveals an attempt by appointees loyal to Elon Musk within the Trump administration to seize control of a critical Treasury Department payment system, potentially to halt foreign aid payments aligned with President Trump’s political agenda.

Four days after Trump’s inauguration, Musk’s representatives at the Treasury Department requested the immediate shutdown of all USAID payments through the department’s highly secure payment processing system. This unprecedented request was met with skepticism by the acting Treasury Secretary, David Lebryk, who questioned the legal authority to do so. Lebryk suggested a less risky approach, recommending the State Department (which oversees USAID) review the payments instead.

However, Tom Krause, a top DOGE (presumably a reference to a Trump administration office) staffer, warned Lebryk against non-compliance. This exchange highlights a direct clash between political appointees and career civil servants.

The controversy led to Lebryk’s sudden resignation after a 35-year career at Treasury, prompting outrage from Democratic senators and concerns about the potential for misuse of sensitive personal data. The incident has drawn attention to the Bureau of the Fiscal Service (BFS), a relatively unknown office that processes trillions of dollars in payments annually. The BFS payment system is considered highly secure and traditionally off-limits to political influence.

While Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent later claimed DOGE only had “read-only” access to the system, questions remain about the extent of access granted initially and whether the “read-only” restriction was implemented fully and promptly. The discrepancy between initial requests and the current reported access level has raised significant concerns.

The attempted manipulation of the payment system represents a potential threat to Congress’s power of the purse, giving the executive branch undue control over federal spending. The incident has also raised concerns about national security and privacy given the sensitive nature of the data processed by the system. The situation remains under investigation.

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