Top Treasury Official Leaves Agency After Musk Allies Demand Access to Social Security Payment System: Report

A top Treasury official has left the agency after Elon Musk's allies allegedly demanded access to the Social Security payment system, according to a new report.

On Friday, David A. Lebryk announced his retirement from the Treasury after briefly being named acting secretary by President Donald Trump last week, according to an email obtained by the Washington Post.

Three sources told the outlet that prior to his departure, Lebryk and Musk had gotten into an argument after officials from the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which Musk was named to help lead, asked for access to the payment system.

The payment systems, which control the distribution of more than $6 trillion dollars in funds to families and businesses through Social Security, Medicare, federal salaries, grants and others, are usually only managed by a select number of people.

Although the reason behind Musk's team wanting access to the payment systems is unknown, Trump's executive order creating the department demanded "full and prompt access" to all records and systems.

This announcement comes after Musk and his allies reportedly contributed to the Trump administration's proposal to federal workers that they would pay them for several months if they agreed to resign from their position, sources told the Washington Post in an article published Wednesday.

Upon news of the proposal, several social media users compared the Trump administration's offer to the email Twitter employees received when Musk took over the platform in 2022. Dozens of federal employees have since pledged to refuse the offer.

Some advisors were reportedly not told of the offer decision prior to the Tuesday announcement, the Post reported.

Musk's role with DOGE, which is also being led by tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, was stated to help the government cut down on unnecessary spending. The department is said to be a temporary fixture.

Lebryk spent three decades working at the Treasury, serving under various different secretaries. He previously served as acting director of the U.S. Mint and commissioner of the Bureau of the Fiscal Service. Scott Bessent was confirmed as treasury secretary on Monday.

Originally published by Latin Times.