debut: 12/22/15
8,089 runs
In reply to Karma
Before Trump’s inauguration, members of his transition landing team wanted to know granular details about the bureau’s proprietary computer systems, including “each step in the disbursement process.” They also wanted to visit field offices where government workers, in Philadelphia or Kansas, work on computers that disburse payments.
The requests puzzled many career officials initially. The transition operation hadn’t requested substantive briefings on any of Treasury’s other critical areas of operation, multiple people familiar with the matter said. Veterans of past transition efforts, representing presidents of both parties, couldn’t recall precedent for the Trump team’s entreaty.
The arcane process of cutting the government’s checks is normally overlooked by political leadership, though the incoming administration exhibited an odd interest in its inner workings, sources said — raising suspicions among career officials about the intent to tinker with a crucial financial pipeline that keeps the nation’s economy running.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee, called for an investigation on Friday following news of Lebryk’s departure.
“It’s alarming that Elon Musk is attempting to gain access to the Federal Government’s critical payment system, which is responsible for delivering Social Security checks, tax refunds, and Medicare benefits to Americans across the country,” Warren said in a statement provided to CNN. “It is equally alarming that Musk and the Trump Administration drove out the most senior career official at Treasury as the agency is already taking extraordinary measures to avoid a US default.”
Multiple Trump administration officials, including people at Treasury, didn’t respond to several requests for comment this week.
Musk himself acknowledged his interest in the Treasury Department’s payment processing in a middle-of-the-night post on his social media platform Saturday.
