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A Treasury Department official revealed Tuesday that a staff member working for Elon Musk was accidentally granted permission to modify a highly sensitive government payment system containing personal data of millions of Americans.

The disclosure emerged through a sworn declaration to a federal judge, following widespread concern that the 25-year-old associate of the billionaire had editing access to a system managing trillions in government disbursements.

Marko Elez, who held no official government position, stepped down Friday after being connected to racist social media content, though Musk later announced his reinstatement.

As head of the newly established Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Musk has been commissioned by President Donald Trump to reduce government expenditure.

According to the sworn statement reviewed by AFP, Elez was intended to receive read-only access to the system under Bureau of the Fiscal Service supervision, the Treasury division responsible for payment and collection management.

Joseph Gioeli, a payment section official, stated: “On the morning of Feb. 6, it was discovered that Mr. Elez’s database access to SPS on Feb. 5 had mistakenly been configured with read/write permissions instead of read-only.”

The Secure Payment System is referred to as SPS.

The official noted that preliminary investigation indicated all of Elez’s system interactions occurred during supervised sessions, with “no unauthorized actions had taken place.”

Using a Treasury Department computer, Elez’s access sparked outrage among Trump administration critics and raised concerns about the security of citizens’ personal information.

DOGE lacks congressional authorization for official federal status, and neither Musk nor his team members qualify as civil servants or federal employees.

Elez was one of two DOGE personnel granted access to the sensitive Treasury system.

Media reports cited a confidential internal evaluation warning the Treasury Department about an “unprecedented insider threat risk” due to this access.

Prior to his resignation, a court order restricted Elez to read-only system access as Democratic lawmakers and advocacy groups expressed concerns about national security and economic risks related to his data access.

Thomas Krause, another DOGE team member, submitted a separate sworn statement Tuesday, indicating his January 23 appointment as an unpaid “Senior Advisor for Technology and Modernization” at the Treasury.

While later designated for “Fiscal Assistant Secretary” duties, Krause stated, “I have not yet assumed the duties.”

The Treasury Department’s organizational structure lists Krause under this title.

His statement continued, clarifying, “Although I coordinate with officials at USDS/DOGE, provide them with regular updates on the team’s progress, and receive high-level policy direction from them, I am not an employee of USDS/DOGE,” noting that he and Elez comprised the department’s team within the Treasury.