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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
Technology
Ed Pilkington

Elon Musk’s Doge team granted ‘full access’ to federal payment system

Man with arms raised
Elon Musk speaks during a rally on the inauguration day of Donald Trump's inside Capital One, in Washington, on 20 January. Photograph: Mike Segar/Reuters

Elon Musk’s government-slashing crew, the “department of government efficiency”, has been given access to the federal payment system, exposing the sensitive personal data of millions of Americans as well as details of public contractors who compete directly with Musk’s own businesses, an influential US senator has confirmed.

Ron Wyden, a Democratic senator from Oregon and the ranking member of the Senate finance committee, posted on Bluesky that sources had confirmed to him that the Treasury’s highly sensitive database had been opened up to the tech billionaire and his team.

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