Chuck Darwin<p>US watchdog to investigate Musk ‘Doge’ team’s access to payment systems</p><p>Treasury inspector general to launch audit as judge mulls whether access to sensitive data was unconstitutional</p><p>Loren Sciurba, <br />the treasury’s deputy inspector general, <br />said the audit would review the past two years of the system’s transactions <br />to examine Musk’s claim that his team has uncovered evidence of billions of dollars of fraudulent payments.</p><p>She said the audit <br />– launched in response to demands from the Democratic senators Elizabeth Warren and Ron Wyden <br />– would begin immediately and <br />👉take until August to complete.</p><p>Its launch coincided with a judge in Washington considering a legal suit <br />lodged by Democratic attorneys general from 14 states, <br />arguing that Doge’s work was illegal on the alleged grounds that Trump violated the US constitution <br />💥by creating a federal government department without congressional approval.</p><p>The attorneys general argue that Musk has exercised “virtually unchecked power” <br />by entering government agencies and ordering sweeping cuts without oversight or authorization from Congress.</p><p><a href="https://c.im/tags/USAid" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>USAid</span></a>, the government foreign assistance agency, has been shuttered on his authority <br />and its workforce put on leave, <br />although a judge on Thursday ordered the Trump administration to temporarily lift the funding freeze it has imposed on the agency’s humanitarian work.</p><p>The suit, led by <br />New Mexico’s justice department, <br />alleges that Doge has “unraveled federal agencies, accessed sensitive data, and caused widespread disruption for state and local governments, federal employees, and the American people”.</p><p>A separate hearing in a court in New York was due <br />over whether to extend a temporary block on the Doge team entering the <a href="https://c.im/tags/payments" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>payments</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/system" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>system</span></a> <br />that was imposed in an interim ruling last Saturday by Judge <a href="https://c.im/tags/Paul" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Paul</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Englemayer" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Englemayer</span></a>. </p><p>Musk called for Englemayer’s impeachment after that ruling, <br />while JD Vance, the vice-president, wrote in a social media most that judges were not allowed to interfere with a president’s “legitimate power” <br />– a view contested by most constitutional law experts.</p><p>On Friday, Judge <a href="https://c.im/tags/Jeannette" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Jeannette</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Vargas" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Vargas</span></a> extended the temporary block, though she said she would not yet rule on whether there should be a longer lasting preliminary injunction prohibiting Doge’s access to the treasury payment system.</p><p>Swingeing cuts continued apace despite the plethora of legal challenges. </p><p>Federal agency heads were ordered to fire most recent hires who have not completed their probation period – a move likely to affect about 200,000 workers, the Washington Post reported.</p><p>The treasury department audit coincided with a call from <a href="https://c.im/tags/Chris" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Chris</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Murphy" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Murphy</span></a>, Democratic senator for Connecticut, <br />for an official investigation into the “legality and scope” of Musk’s penetration of the federal bureaucracy.</p><p>“Musk and his aides are subject to various conflict of interest statutes which prohibit federal employees from participating in matters that impact their own financial interests,” <br />Murphy wrote to the US government comptroller general, <a href="https://c.im/tags/Eugene" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Eugene</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Dodaro" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Dodaro</span></a>.</p><p>He added: “It is imperative the public understands whether Musk and his aides have complied with the law <br />and whether highly sensitive data could be at risk if accessed by private actors who seek to benefit from the information illegally, <br />or worse, by foreign adversaries who wish to attack this country.”</p><p>Murphy’s letter to Dodaro came as HuffPost reported that Doge had publicly <a href="https://c.im/tags/posted" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>posted</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/classified" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>classified</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/information" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>information</span></a> about the size and staff of a US intelligence agency – the National Reconnaissance Office – on its new website.</p><p>The exposure reportedly left some “scrambling to check if their info has been accessed”, <br />according to one Defense Intelligence Agency employee who spoke with HuffPost.</p><p>Despite the rising resistance to its activities, <br />the US <a href="https://c.im/tags/armed" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>armed</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/services" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>services</span></a> were preparing a list of weapons systems to be cut <br />in preparation for Doge casting its gaze over the <a href="https://c.im/tags/Pentagon" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Pentagon</span></a>, the Wall Street Journal reported.</p><p>Members of Musk’s team were expected to visit the Pentagon on Friday. </p><p>💥“People are offering up things sacrificially, hoping that will prevent more cuts,” a defence official told the Journal.</p><p>The army was said to be volunteering cutting outdated drones and vehicles, <br />while the navy is proposing cuts to frigates and littoral combat ships.<br /><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/14/musk-doge-payment-system-investigation?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">theguardian.com/us-news/2025/f</span><span class="invisible">eb/14/musk-doge-payment-system-investigation?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other</span></a></p>