President
Donald Trump has
claimed the spending cuts he proposes won't impact Medicare and Social Security, but
new reporting on the sudden departure of the U.S. Treasury Department's highest-ranking career official after a dispute over the payment systems that distribute those benefits sparked concern that Trump's billionaire backer,
Elon Musk, could have plans for the popular programs relied on by millions of Americans.
The Washington Post reported Friday that David Lebryk, who has served in numerous high-level roles at the Treasury Department since 1989 and was temporarily named acting treasury secretary by Trump before the confirmation this week of his nominee, Scott Bessent, would soon leave the department.
According to the newspaper, Lebryk has clashed with allies of Musk, whom Trump has named to lead his new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), over access to payment systems that the agency uses to distribute more than $6 trillion annually to households and businesses.
Social Security and Medicare benefits, paychecks for federal employees, and payments to government contractors and grant recipients all flow through the payment systems run by the Bureau of Fiscal Service, among thousands of other functions.
Since Trump won the election in November, officials Musk has named as DOGE staffers have been asking for access to the payment systems, and the demands have been reiterated since the president took office last week, the
Post reported.
Mark Mazur, who served in the department under Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, said the push for access to the systems from an advisory committee aligned with a partisan agenda suggests "bad intentions" from Musk and his allies.
"This is a mechanical job—they pay Social Security benefits, they pay vendors, whatever," said Mazur. "It's not one where there's a role for nonmechanical things, at least from the career standpoint. Your whole job is to pay the bills as they're due. It's never been used in a way to execute a partisan agenda."
Since Trump's inauguration, the new administration has signaled its desire to disrupt government funding of long-established programs, most notably when the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
issued a memo directing federal agencies to "pause all activities related to obligations or disbursement of all federal financial assistance."