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A former staffer at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) briefly received editing access to a highly sensitive federal payment system at the Treasury Department last week due to an internal mistake, before officials revoked his privileges.
The incident has sparked scrutiny over the Trump administration’s handling of government financial systems and raised concerns about DOGE’s role in overseeing federal operations.
According to a court filing on Tuesday, Treasury Department official Joseph Gioeli III stated that Marko Elez, a 25-year-old DOGE staffer who resigned on Friday, had been mistakenly granted read/write access to the Secure Payment System (SPS), which processes 90 percent of federal payments.
Gioeli, a deputy commissioner at the Bureau of the Fiscal Service, emphasized that Elez never used these permissions to alter any data.
“To the best of our knowledge, Mr. Elez never knew of the fact that he briefly had read/write permissions for the SPS database, and never took any action to exercise the ‘write’ privileges in order to modify anything within the SPS database,” Gioeli wrote in the filing.
Treasury officials had previously disclosed that Elez and Cloud Software Group CEO Tom Krause had been given limited access to the federal payment system, with Elez receiving direct read-only access and Krause being granted “over the shoulder” access, meaning he could observe the system in use but not interact with it directly.
However, Treasury staff later discovered on Thursday that Elez’s access had been mistakenly configured, allowing him to make modifications to the system.
Once the mistake was identified, Elez’s access was immediately downgraded to read-only, and an initial investigation found no evidence that he had misused his temporary editing capabilities.
Treasury officials noted that Elez had only accessed the system during a supervised walk-through session with staff and had not made any unauthorized changes.
“While forensic analysis is still ongoing, Bureau personnel have conducted preliminary reviews of logs of his activity both on his laptop and within the systems and at this time have found no indication of any unauthorized use,” Gioeli stated.
The error occurred amid broader concerns over DOGE’s expanding role in federal financial oversight. Established by the Trump administration under the leadership of Elon Musk, DOGE has been granted increasing authority over various government operations, including budget reductions and agency restructuring.
Its access to federal payment systems has drawn criticism from lawmakers and government watchdog groups, who warn that the involvement of private-sector figures like Musk and his associates could pose risks to financial security and transparency.
The controversy surrounding Elez intensified after his resignation on Friday, following revelations by The Wall Street Journal that he had posted racist comments on social media. The posts, made from a now-deleted account, prompted swift backlash, leading to his departure from DOGE.
Despite this, Musk has publicly stated that Elez will be rehired, a move that Vice President J.D. Vance has also supported.
However, recent court filings indicate that Elez is no longer employed by the Treasury Department, leaving questions about his future role in government operations. His brief access to the Secure Payment System and the subsequent fallout have only added to the ongoing debate over DOGE’s place within the federal government.
Critics argue that the department’s involvement in Treasury operations is part of a broader push by the Trump administration to centralize power and weaken traditional oversight mechanisms. Democratic lawmakers have expressed alarm over DOGE’s influence, particularly given Musk’s direct role in shaping its policies.
Musk, for his part, has defended DOGE’s actions, arguing that the administration’s reforms are necessary to eliminate government inefficiency. “The people voted for change, and that’s exactly what we’re delivering,” Musk stated in a recent interview.
Despite assurances from Treasury officials that Elez’s access was a mistake that was promptly corrected, the incident has fueled further scrutiny of the administration’s handling of sensitive government data. Congressional hearings on DOGE’s operations and its role in federal financial management are expected in the coming weeks.
The situation remains fluid, with ongoing forensic analysis to confirm that no unauthorized actions were taken. The broader implications of DOGE’s involvement in financial oversight, as well as Elez’s potential reinstatement, are likely to remain contentious topics in Washington.
As investigations continue, the case highlights the complexities and risks of integrating private-sector leadership into government operations. Whether DOGE’s expanding influence will lead to meaningful reform or greater instability within federal agencies remains to be seen.
