n a recent online article, Elon Musk’s DOGE made a startling assertion that has already caused a stir.
Since returning to the White House last month, Elon Musk has been a prominent player in Donald Trump’s administration, particularly due to his work at the Department of Government of Efficiency, or DOGE.
On Monday, February 17, the Department of Government Efficiency used Twitter to share their findings and discuss how a change they plan to make will promote openness.
They asserted that it was impossible to fully track down $4.7 trillion in Treasury payments and that measures will be taken to make sure this doesn’t happen again.
In a post, they wrote: “The Treasury Access Symbol (TAS) is an identification code linking a Treasury payment to a budget line item (standard financial process).”
“In the Federal Government, the TAS field was optional for ~$4.7 Trillion in payments and was often left blank, making traceability almost impossible. As of Saturday, this is now a required field, increasing insight into where money is actually going. Thanks to @USTreasury for the great work.”
According to the Bureau of the Fiscal Service, TAS codes are used to refer to any one of the account identification codes that the Treasury has assigned.
In a tweet of his own, Musk hailed the shift as a “significant improvement in Treasury payment integrity.”
He added: “This was a combined effort of [DOGE, Treasury and the Federal Reserve]. Nice work by all.”
“I am pleased to announce that the Great Elon Musk, working in conjunction with American Patriot Vivek Ramaswamy, will lead the Department of Government Efficiency,” Trump said in December of last year.
Trump has frequently referred to Musk as its leader since Vivek left.
But according to recent statements from the White House, Musk is not a real employee of DOGE.
In a court brief, the White House stated that Musk may only advise the president and communicate orders; he has no decision-making power.
“Like other senior White House advisors, Mr Musk has no actual or formal authority to make government decisions himself.”
“In his role as senior advisor to the president, Mr Musk has no greater authority than other senior White House advisors. Like other senior White House advisors, Mr Musk has no actual or formal authority to make government decisions.”
Joshua Fischer, the director of the White House’s Office of Administration, claims that Musk is a senior adviser to the president and is referred to as a “non-career special government employee.”