Treasury Department Appoints Elon Musk Ally as Assistant Secretary for Payments
The Treasury Department has appointed Tom Krause, linked to Elon Musk's U.S. DOGE Service, as assistant secretary, following the ousting of David A. Lebryk amid payment system controversies.
The Treasury Department has appointed Tom Krause, a Silicon Valley executive with connections to Elon Musk's U.S. DOGE Service, as the new assistant secretary overseeing the nation's payment systems. This change follows the dismissal of career civil servant David A. Lebryk, who previously held the post and resisted efforts to halt federal payments on foreign aid, deeming such actions illegal.
Krause will oversee a system responsible for disbursing more than $5 trillion annually in payments, which includes Social Security, Medicare, tax refunds, and other significant aid measures. Elon Musk has publicly called for the Treasury Department to stop these payments.
Adding to the controversy, the White House announced that another DOGE employee, Marko Elez, would resign after racist social media posts were revealed by The Wall Street Journal.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has attempted to minimize the influence of the DOGE team at the Treasury Department, clarifying that they only had "read-only" access to the payments system, a restriction enforced by a federal court order. Bessent emphasized, "When you say the DOGE team, these are Treasury employees, two Treasury employees, one of whom I personally interviewed in his final round."
The installation of Krause as assistant secretary is likely to increase tensions within the Treasury Department, particularly in light of the contentious departure of Lebryk, a respected career civil servant.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
