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Federal Reserve officials worked directly with the Treasury Department to grant Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (D.O.G.E) access to critical federal payment systems, according to new court documents.

The filings reveal that Elon’s team held high-level meetings with government officials in Kansas City just days after Donald Trump took office, discussing how D.O.G.E could tap into sensitive Treasury databases.

Donald Trump and Elon Musk pose for a photo during the UFC 309 event at Madison Square Garden. Jeff Bottari—Zuffa LLC/Fortune

The records contradict what Jerome Powell, the Federal Reserve Chair, told Congress in February 2025 when he claimed the central bank had “no contact” with D.O.G.E.

However, the documents show that the Fed and Treasury had been in talks with Elon’s team about accessing federal payment infrastructure, a move that could reshape the flow of government money.

Elon’s team gained access to federal payment data

Two members of Elon’s D.O.G.E team, including Cloud Software Group CEO Thomas Krause, were present at the January meetings in Kansas City, where Treasury and Fed officials discussed the Payment Automation Manager (PAM) and the Automated Standard Application for Payments (ASAP).

These systems process $5.4 trillion in federal payments annually, handling everything from government contracts to Social Security disbursements.

Documents filed in a lawsuit by the Alliance for Retired Americans show that Marko Elez, a software engineer on the D.O.G.E team, had brief access to Treasury payment data before he was forced to resign over links to racist social media posts.

Elez was later rehired, and records show that both he and Krause held dual roles as Treasury employees and D.O.G.E team members at the time of the meetings.

A spreadsheet compiled after the meetings showed the status of Elon’s team’s access requests. Some were still pending, but others had already been marked “completed.”

In an email, Matthew Garber, who was then acting as the Fiscal Assistant Secretary, confirmed that Elez would receive read-only access to certain systems.

“For the items that Fiscal can implement independently we will get moving immediately, and Marko should see read-only soon,” Garber wrote. He also noted that legal teams were working on the language needed for Fed approval.

Congress questioned Powell on D.O.G.E’s access

The Kansas City meetings took place just two weeks before Powell appeared before the House Financial Services Committee on February 12, where Congresswoman Maxine Waters pressed Powell about whether the Federal Reserve had been working with Elon’s team.

“When Elon comes knocking at the Fed’s door, you going to let him in?” Waters asked.

“I don’t have anything for you on that,” Powell responded.

“Would you like to tell us today that you won’t let D.O.G.E into the Federal Reserve or have access to the systems and the data?” Waters pushed further.

“We’ve had no contact,” Powell said.

Despite his denial, the court filings show that the Fed’s leadership team had direct discussions with Treasury officials and D.O.G.E staff about access to federal financial infrastructure.

While the preliminary agenda for the Kansas City meetings did not list specific Fed officials by name, it identified them as “FRB leadership team”, with a note stating that a final list of participants would be added later.

The risk of prioritization and financial disruptions

D.O.G.E’s access to Treasury payment systems raises questions about how federal funds could be prioritized in a financial crisis. If the $36.1 trillion U.S. debt limit is reached, the Treasury Department could choose which payments get processed first.

This could mean bondholders receive their money before government contractors, federal employees, or even Social Security recipients.

A January 24 Treasury memo included in the lawsuit warned about the consequences of any disruption to daily payment operations.

“Any disruption to daily operations could have catastrophic consequences,” the Treasury’s memo said, while specifically pointing out that delays or failures in payment processing could lead to government defaults and interruptions in Social Security and other federal benefits.

During a Senate hearing on February 11, chair Powell was asked whether the Federal Reserve had any role in determining which payments are made during a debt crisis. He made it clear that those decisions come from the Treasury Department.

“We make no judgments whatsoever. Those are all made upstream from us and we are, in fact, the fiscal agent of the Treasury,” Powell said. The Fed’s role is to process payments as directed by the Treasury.

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Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried suggested on Thursday in an interview with conservative pundit Tucker Carlson that one of the reasons he’d been given a harsh prison sentence was because he was getting closer to the Republican Party in the lead-up to his arrest.

“One fact that might be relevant. In 2020 I was center-left and I gave to Biden's campaign," he said. "I was optimistic he'd be a sort of solid center-left President. I spent the next few years in [Washington] DC a lot. I made dozens of trips there, and was really, really shocked by what I saw, not in a good direction, from the administration."

“By late 2022 I was giving to Republicans privately as much as Democrats. And that started becoming known right around FTX’s collapse, so that probably played a role,” Bankman-Fried added.

Bankman-Fried was found guilty of multiple charges of fraud and conspiracy in March 2024 and sentenced to 25 years in prison. He made over $40 million in political donations to 196 members of Congress, including former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and former Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). In other words, 1 in 3 lawmakers took money from him.

Read more: Congress' FTX Problem: 1 in 3 Members Got Cash From Crypto Exchange's Bosses

During Bankman-Fried's lengthy trial, it was revealed that he'd mulled a number of potential ways to rehab his public image following the collapse of FTX. An undated Google Doc listed ideas such as "come out against the woke agenda" and "Go on Tucker Carlsen, come out as a republican." With the GOP now firmly in power in D.C., the latter idea has now seemingly come to fruition.

Bankman-Fried told Carlson that he’d never expected a whole lot from the Democrats but that he believed some lawmakers would prove thoughtful in both political parties. He criticized former Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler, calling the agency “something out of a nightmare” during his tenure due to difficulties for crypto companies to come in and register.

Asked by Carlson whether he’d called in any favors from political figures during his trial, Bankman-Fried denied it. However, the 33-year-old's parents, former Stanford Law School professors Barbara Fried and Joseph Bankman, have reportedly been meeting with lawyers and other people in U.S. President Donald Trump's orbit in an attempt to secure their son a presidential pardon.

“There’s a long story there. It involves a law firm that took a pretty unusual and active role in the case, before I even gave up control of FTX, before it was ever filed for bankruptcy, the DOJ had already made up its mind.”

The Google Doc unveiled during Bankman-Fried's trial also suggested he was planning to "talk about how the cartel of lawyers is destroying value and throwing entrepreneurs under the bus in order to cover up the incompetence of lawyers.”

Bankman-Fried recently posted a series of messages on social media about the difficulties of firing employees, in reference to the firings enacted by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Bankman-Fried was criticized by the crypto community for the posts, which were perceived as an attempt to ingratiate himself with the Trump administration.

U.S. President Donald Trump named XRP, Solana (SOL) and Cardano (ADA) as three assets to be included in a U.S. strategic crypto reserve on Sunday, providing the first details about what such a reserve may look like.

Notably, Trump did not mention Bitcoin (BTC) or Ethereum (ETH) — the two largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization — in his statement, but he did not say the reserve would exclude these assets either. Trump made the announcement on Truth Social, his social media platform.

"A U.S. Crypto Reserve will elevate this critical industry after years of corrupt attacks by the Biden Administration, which is why my Executive Order on Digital Assets directed the Presidential Working Group to move forward on a Crypto Strategic Reserve that includes XRP, SOL, and ADA," Trump stated. "I will make sure the U.S. is the Crypto Capital of the World. We are MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"

Following Trump's announcement, XRP, SOL, and ADA experienced significant price surges.

Trump has been discussing the idea since his 2024 presidential campaign. Soon after taking office in January, Trump signed an executive order directing a working group to evaluate the formation of a strategic crypto reserve, but the order did not explicitly mandate that the U.S. establish one outright.

Sen. Cynthia Lummis previously introduced a bill to create a strategic bitcoin reserve for the U.S. She first advocated for one at July's Bitcoin Nashville conference, where then-candidate Trump also spoke. The bill proposed by Lummis would have authorized the U.S. Treasury to acquire one million bitcoins over five years, equating to approximately 5% of the total Bitcoin supply.

A number of U.S. state legislatures have already introduced bills to create their own strategic crypto reserves, though most of these efforts have failed to get off the ground.

Argentina’s president Javier Milei touched down in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, arriving in the middle of the biggest political firestorm of his presidency.

Javier’s visit—scheduled weeks in advance—was originally about securing an International Monetary Fund (IMF) deal and strengthening ties with Donald Trump’s administration. But now, Javier is walking into a different battle: explaining his involvement in a memecoin collapse that erased $4.6 billion in market value overnight.

Javier’s US itinerary is stacked. He’s set to meet Elon Musk, one of his most vocal supporters and a close friend, before delivering a speech at CPAC—the Trump-friendly Conservative Political Action Conference. His team has been scrambling to turn the conversation away from the $LIBRA debacle and back to his economic agenda. But back in Argentina, the scandal isn’t going away.

$LIBRA token collapses after Javier’s promotion

The controversy exploded last Friday when Javier personally endorsed $LIBRA, a newly launched cryptocurrency, in a post on X (formerly Twitter). The token immediately surged, attracting speculators who saw the Argentine president’s backing as a signal to buy in.

But just hours later, the price crashed, wiping out billions. Javier deleted the post, and his office distanced itself from the project, but it was already too late.

Then came Hayden Davis, a key figure behind the token. Hayden told investors that Javier was more involved than he let on, claiming in leaked text messages—published by CoinDesk—that he paid Karina Javier, the president’s sister and closest advisor, to “control” Javier.

Davis denied that he had made any payments to the president or his sister, or sent the messages. Milei denied any wrongdoing in a television interview on Monday.

But the damage was done. The opposition pounced, accusing Javier of either incompetence or outright corruption.

Javier responded on Monday night in an interview on Argentinian television, saying he never received money for the promotion and calling the accusations an attempt to smear his presidency. He didn’t clarify why he initially backed the token or why he deleted the post, leaving more questions than answers.

Market reaction and the IMF talks in Washington

The fallout hit Argentina’s markets hard. The Buenos Aires stock index dropped 6% on Monday before recovering slightly. The country’s already fragile peso took another hit, adding pressure on Javier’s economic team.

Javier’s biggest priority in Washington is securing an IMF deal. His government has been in negotiations for months, trying to unlock new funding and ease Argentina’s currency controls. Economy Minister Luis Caputo said on Monday that the agreement was “almost done”, but sources close to the talks suggest the IMF still has concerns—particularly about Javier’s handling of the peso’s exchange rate.

The IMF has pushed for a more flexible currency policy, but Javier’s team insists on controlling the rate to prevent inflation from spiraling further.

While Javier has been one of Trump’s strongest allies on the global stage, the US president’s new tariff plan could put Argentina in a difficult position. Trump is pushing for reciprocal levies on countries that impose heavy duties on US goods, and Argentina’s protectionist trade policies could make it a target.

Javier is expected to raise concerns about the tariffs when he meets with top US officials this week. His government has been trying to align more closely with Washington, but trade policy could strain the relationship—even as Javier cultivates personal ties with Trump’s inner circle.

Despite the scandal back home, Javier is set to receive a warm welcome at CPAC. The conservative crowd embraces his free-market stance and aggressive anti-establishment rhetoric. Last year, Javier’s speech at the same event went viral among right-wing circles, and his team is betting on another strong reception to help drown out the crypto controversy.

Before CPAC, Javier is scheduled to meet Elon Musk. Musk has been one of his biggest defenders, calling him a “true reformer” and backing his aggressive economic policies. Their meeting is expected to focus on energy, trade, and digital assets. Crypto will almost certainly come up—but whether Musk addresses the $LIBRA debacle remains to be seen.

The crypto community, meanwhile, has been divided over the scandal. One Argentinian X user posted:

“The main thing I can say after $LIBRA incident is that I believe even more in Bitcoin and Ethereum than even before and I’m sure Argentineans will play a crucial role in global crypto adoption. We’re resilient as fuck.”

Ethereum created Vitalik Buterin reacted, saying:

“Argentina’s Ethereum community is full of amazing builders, who have already contributed some of the most important software in the Ethereum ecosystem.”

He suggested that Argentina should host Devconnect, a major Ethereum developer conference, citing the country’s strong crypto talent.

Javier responded publicly:

“THANK YOU VERY MUCH, Vitalik Buterin FOR YOUR WORDS ABOUT ARGENTINE TALENT!!! It would be an honor for Argentina to host Devconnect. LONG LIVE FREEDOM, DAMN IT…!!!”

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White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt blasted Democrats on Monday night on Fox News’ Hannity for their “fake outrage” over Donald Trump’s decision to audit Social Security through Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (D.O.G.E).

Karoline pointed out that Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, and Joe Biden all made similar promises about cracking down on government waste. Yet, they are now attacking Trump for actually doing it.

She said if people closed their eyes and listened to old clips of Obama and Biden, they would think they were hearing Trump and Elon talk about cleaning up fraud. “President Trump is just the first president in our lifetimes to actually do it,” Karoline said.

The Press Secretary accused the mainstream media of fearmongering, claiming journalists in Washington, D.C., were trying to convince Americans that the audit would somehow steal their Social Security checks.

Trump asks Elon to audit Social Security fraud

Trump ordered Elon and the D.O.G.E team to investigate fraudulent payments within the Social Security Administration (SSA) last Thursday. According to Elon, the system is riddled with fake recipients, including millions of deceased people still listed as active beneficiaries.

The billionaire said some of these names belong to people between the ages of 100 and 159, an impossible statistic that suggests billions of taxpayer dollars could be vanishing into fraudulent claims.

Karoline laid out the administration’s objectives for the audit. “The goal is simple,” she said. “Number one: stop duplicate payments. Number two: cut off benefits to dead people. Number three: protect the integrity of the system for hardworking Americans who actually paid into it.”

She assured viewers that honest taxpayers had nothing to worry about. “If you paid into the system fairly, you will continue to receive your Social Security checks,” she said. “Do not believe the lies from the fake news media.”

Meanwhile, Democrats have launched lawsuits to stop D.O.G.E from proceeding, saying that Trump’s new agency violates the US Constitution. The Democrats claim that putting Elon—a private billionaire—in charge of a government audit raises legal and ethical concerns.

Yet, according to Karoline, now that Trump is actually acting on the promises he was voted on, Democrats are suddenly panicking and calling it unconstitutional.

On Monday, D.O.G.E. published a “Wall of Receipts” listing $16 billion in canceled government contracts. The document, meant to highlight savings under Trump’s cost-cutting initiative, included dozens of contracts that had been terminated or reduced under D.O.G.E’s leadership.

But one entry raised immediate red flags—an $8 billion contract from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which the New York Times reportedly investigated and found that the actual value of the contract was $8 million.

By Wednesday morning, D.O.G.E finally adjusted the savings number, reducing the $8 billion error down to $8 million. But the department never acknowledged the mistake or explained how the error affected its total $55 billion savings claim, which of course the Left is now using against Elon and Trump.

White House says Elon isn’t actually in charge of D.O.G.E

The White House came out swinging Monday, clarifying that Elon isn’t actually part of the Department of Government Efficiency (D.O.G.E), despite being the one running the show on the cost-cutting front.

Elon works under the White House Office, as a senior adviser to President Trump. According to Joshua Fisher, director of the White House Office of Administration, Elon isn’t employed by the US D.O.G.E Service or its temporary offshoots. And, just to make it clear, he’s not the US D.O.G.E Service administrator, a position spelled out in Trump’s recent executive order to set up D.O.G.E.

“Mr. Elon doesn’t have any more power than other senior advisers in the White House,” Fisher stated in a court filing. “His role is to advise the President—that’s it. He can’t make decisions on his own. He just passes along what the President wants.”

Fisher also compared Elon to Anita Dunn, a senior adviser during Biden’s presidency. This is all coming out amid a lawsuit from 14 states that are trying to get Elon’s role declared unconstitutional because he’s never been confirmed by the Senate.

The states argue that giving Elon the ability to cut government jobs and dismantle entire departments with a few clicks would’ve shocked the founding fathers. They claim it goes against the Constitution, which keeps the Executive Branch in the hands of elected and confirmed officials, not some “unconfirmed billionaire.”

Initially, the states asked the court to block Elon and the D.O.G.E team from making any changes to contracts, regulations, personnel decisions, or accessing government data systems. But now they’ve dialed it back, only asking to prevent Elon and D.O.G.E from accessing data or making any moves that could affect the government workforce.

The Department of Justice sided with Elon, insisting he and D.O.G.E aren’t calling the shots. The Trump administration fired back, saying the states are mixing up influence and authority. They made it clear: just because someone listens to advice doesn’t make them the one in charge.

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Democrats are not happy with Musk and DOGE’s access to federal data. To that end, they have filed a lawsuit calling the billionaire an “agent of chaos” in the federal government. They say the billionaire has been given virtually unchecked authority without proper legal authorization and supervision of his authority.

The Trump administration has said that Musk does not have the power that people think. Both Trump and Musk have said that Musk is responsible for DOGE’s work cutting back on federal agencies. In fact, when Trump spoke about DOGE at a joint press conference last week, he mentioned that Musk is a “successful guy, and that’s why we want him doing this.”

However, according to a court filing, Office of Administration Director Joshua Fisher said, “Mr Musk is an employee of the white house office. He holds a position of a non-career special government employee (SGE).”

He added, “The US DOGE service is a component of the executive office of the president. The US DOGE service temporary organization is within the US DOGE service. Both are separate from the white house office. He is not an employee of the US DOGE service or the US DOGE service temporary organisation. Mr. Musk is not the US DOGE service administrator.”

DOJ lawyers have also said in court that Musk doesn’t have any formal or actual authority to make any government decisions himself. They also noted that there are no examples of Musk being given formal authority to exercise the sovereign power of the United States.

Musk has been behind broad cuts throughout the federal government. He has also been vocal about DOGE’s operations on social media. 

Federal judge declines Democratic attorneys request 

Judge Tanya Chutkan, a federal judge, declined the request made by Democratic attorneys to temporarily block Elon Musk and his DOGE from accessing federal data. However, the judge also said she didn’t trust what the Trump government said about Musk and his DOGE powers. 

Democrat lawyers also asked the judge to stop Musk and DOGE from firing or putting workers on involuntary leave. However, the judge said that they had to show that they would suffer immediate, irreversible harm without a temporary restraining order. She added that the state hadn’t done that. 

Judge Chutkan said, “The court is aware that DOGE’s unpredictable actions have resulted in considerable uncertainty and confusion for Plaintiffs and many of their agencies and residents […]  “It remains ‘uncertain’ when and how the catalog of state programs that Plaintiffs identify will suffer.”

The judge also explained that the states’ main case against Musk is strong. However, their claims at this point were not strong enough to meet the standard for the court to take emergency action.

She wrote in the filing, “Plaintiffs raise a colorable Appointments Clause claim with serious implications. Musk has not been nominated by the President nor confirmed by the U.S. Senate, as constitutionally required for officers who exercise ‘significant authority pursuant to the laws of the United States […] But even a strong merits argument cannot secure a temporary restraining order at this juncture.”

The judge, however, warned the defense counsel, saying, “Defense counsel is reminded of their duty to make truthful representations to the court.”

Pending lawsuits

Other lawsuits are still being processed. They say that the administration broke privacy laws and other rules by letting people connected to the DOGE agency take control of very restricted government IT systems.

There are cases that have not yet been challenged in court. Musk and DOGE have certainly been controversial since they started. For example, DOGE employees have reportedly accessed information for Medicare and Medicaid and used AI to search sensitive internal data for the Department of Education. 

In addition, Trump has made sweeping executive actions, and many of them haven’t been challenged in court yet. For example, he quit the World Health Organization and withheld federal funding from schools that let transgender women play women’s sports. 

He also put tariffs on China, removed protections around AI, and undid climate change efforts started by Biden. This includes telling federal agencies not to give some money that Congress had approved. 

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