Elon Musk's lieutenants got right to work after Donald Trump returned to office trying to shut down congressionally approved funding to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), according to newly obtained emails.
The communications show the tech mogul's allies installed at the Treasury Department shocked then-acting secretary David Lebryk by asking four days after the inauguration to immediately suspend payments through the agency's highly sensitive payment processing system, which sources told CNN was way out of bounds of standard operations.
Lebryk told the newly installed individuals that he didn't believe “we have the legal authority to stop an authorized payment certified by an agency,” according to a source familiar with the exchange, and he suggested involving the State Department, which oversees USAID, as a “legally less risky approach."
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Former tech executive Tom Krause, now the top DOGE staffer at the Treasury Department, warned Lebryk that he could face some legal risks if he chose not to comply, and he suddenly ended a 35-year career at the department Friday, setting off a firestorm in Washington as Musk's allies may have gained access to highly sensitive personal data for millions of Americans and businesses.
The Bureau of Fiscal Service typically flies under the radar while reliably distributing tax returns, Social Security benefits and other payments to millions of Americans, but Krause's demands – and the Treasury Department's official statements about the access DOGE operatives were granted – have prompted a chorus of questions from lawmakers and reporters who've noticed the conflicting reports from senior officials and sources inside the agency.
“The hole here is what happened between the initial ask and [Treasury secretary Scott] Bessent’s sign-off,” said one source with knowledge of the events that led up to the email exchange. “Either the DOGE aspirations for what they wanted dramatically changed or the limitations they insist were placed on them aren’t the whole story.”
None of the individuals at the Treasury Department involved with the emails responded to CNN request for comment, but the communications reveal how Trump and Musk are planning to use DOGE to shut off funding to parts of the government they oppose – which could violate Article 1 of the U.S. Constitution establishing Congress as a co-equal branch of the federal government.
“What we would like to do is, to the extent permitted by law, temporarily pause the automatic processing of payment files" to a USAID health initiative, wrote Bessent chief of staff Daniel Katz in one Jan. 24 email seeking to shut off Sate Department payments.