The chaos in Washington DC continued over the weekend and into Monday with government workers locked out of their offices and Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) getting unfettered access to classified materials and a top government payment system.

The upheaval of the US federal government under President Donald Trump's second administration is, admittedly, a moving target, with the situation shifting by the minute. Here's what we know so far about the US Agency for International Development (USAID) shutdown, the vast Treasury Department payment system, and sensitive data housed across both government agencies.

First, it appears the US State Department has taken over USAID, as Trump on Monday [1]appointed Secretary of State Marco Rubio as acting administrator of the independent humanitarian agency just hours after [2]hundreds of USAID staffers were locked out of their headquarters and DOGE boss Musk claimed Trump agreed with him that the agency needs to be [3]shut down .

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The USAID website went offline on Monday.

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[6]

"The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has long strayed from its original mission of responsibly advancing American interests abroad, and it is now abundantly clear that significant portions of USAID funding are not aligned with the core national interests of the United States," according to a State Department statement.

Rubio has also notified Congress that USAID's foreign aid is under review "with an eye towards potential reorganization," the statement noted.

[7]

Congressional Democrats and others protested the closure outside of USAID headquarters on Monday, and Democratic lawmakers have [8]argued that the independent agency, which dispenses tens of billions of dollars annually in foreign assistance, can only be shuttered by an act of Congress.

The Monday actions come as top security chiefs at USAID were placed on leave after refusing to hand over access to its classified materials to Musk's [9]DOGE personnel , who reportedly [10]didn't have high enough security clearance to legally view the documents.

Musk, described by the White House as a "special government employee," himself was [11]apparently advised last year he is unlikely to get a higher-level security clearance – he is already cleared for top secret – due to concerns over his past drug use and foreign contacts.

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DOGE members did ultimately [13]gain access to the classified information on Saturday, which reportedly includes intelligence files. It's believed this whole effort was undertaken to wrest control of the agency to probe its work and shutter it. Musk over the weekend [14]alleged on X, "USAID is a criminal organization. Time for it to die."

And all of this follows [15]Trump's first-week-in-office actions , which included halting [16]nearly all foreign aid doled out via the State Department and USAID pending a full-on government review to "ensure they are efficient and consistent with US foreign policy under the America First agenda."

I am deeply concerned that following the federal grant and loan freeze earlier this week, these officials associated with Musk may have intended to access these payment systems to illegally withhold payments to any number of programs

In addition to sweeping into USAID, Musk and his DOGE-y crew were also granted " [17]full access " to a US Treasury payments system, according to Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR).

This system disburses trillions of dollars annually, including Social Security and Medicare benefits, tax credits, and grants and payments to federal employees and contractors, including those that compete with some of Musk's companies, according to Wyden. That Elon is allowed to co-run a government that awards his businesses with huge contracts means we've crossed several lines now with no sign of stopping.

The Treasury Department did not respond to The Register 's inquiries.

Very few people have access to this government payment system because of its highly sensitive nature, and at least one of those, Treasury's acting Deputy Secretary David Lebryk, [18]resigned from his post after pushing back against Musk's attempt to access the databases.

The concern is that Musk – and what's described as an [19]inexperienced team he has assembled to dive into the Treasury's IT environment – will halt payments to government contractors and American citizens that the billionaire personally doesn't agree with or approve of, under the guise of DOGE's cost-cutting spree.

"To put it bluntly, these payment systems simply cannot fail, and any politically-motivated meddling in them risks severe damage to our country and the economy," Senator Wyden [20]said [PDF] in a Friday letter to freshly installed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who is [21]said to have granted Musk access to the Treasury payment system.

"I am deeply concerned that following the federal grant and loan freeze earlier this week, these officials associated with Musk may have intended to access these payment systems to illegally withhold payments to any number of programs," Wyden continued.

Today even Bloomberg is [22]talking of the Treasury possibly defaulting on payments as a result of Musk's interventions, now that he has access to critical systems; the Tesla tycoon has already [23]indicated on his social network he and his team are "rapidly shutting down" grant and program payments they believe are inappropriate.

Asked about Musk and his DOGE crew rifling through the sprawling Treasury Department payment system, President Trump [24]appeared to say Musk's recommendations for cutting staff, at least, have some oversight.

"Well, he's got access only to letting people go that he thinks are no good if we agree with him," the commander-in-chief said. "And it's only if we agree with him. He's a very talented guy from the standpoint of management and costs. And we put him in charge of seeing what he can do with certain groups and certain numbers."

[25]As Trump slugs Canada, Mexico and China with tariffs, industry groups hope trade war weapon isn't pointed at their feet

[26]Trump admin's purge of US cyber advisory boards was 'foolish,' says ex-Navy admiral

[27]Tesla's numbers disappoint again ... and the crowd goes wild ... again

[28]White House asks millions of govt workers if they would be so kind as to fork right off

Wyden, the highest-ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, also cited Musk's "enormous" business operations in China, and argued this conflict of interest — coupled with access to Treasury Department systems — poses serious cybersecurity and national security risks to the US.

Chinese government spies have stolen massive amounts of data about Americans, including government employees and elected officials, from Uncle Sam's IT deployments, and there is a fear DOGE's bulldozing of US federal bodies will leave the door open to China.

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Elon Musk waves goodbye to another federal government team he disagrees with, at Trump's 2025 ... Click for source

In addition to Beijing's Salt Typhoon [30]digital intrusions , which largely hit US telecommunications networks, another group of China-backed spies earlier compromised the US Treasury Department's systems and [31]stole sensitive documents , so perhaps President Xi doesn't need that much help from the world's richest and most impatient man.

"In light of China's recent hack of the Treasury Department's systems, it seems unusual to be granting access to sensitive systems to an individual with such significant business interests in China," Senator Wyden argued. ®

In related news...

Elon Musk suggested [32]getting rid of all federal regulations in a late-night [33]conference call on X.

The Dept of Justice says the White House can [34]continue its federal freeze of grants and loans no matter what the courts have said. That's because, in the DoJ's view, the lawsuits against the freeze challenged a memo from Uncle Sam's HR dept, the Office of Personnel Management, about the matter, whereas the order ultimately came from the President, and that order remains unchallenged.

Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI) [35]said he will put a "blanket hold" on President Trump’s nominees for the State Department in a protest against what's happening to USAID.

Get our [36]Tech Resources



[1] https://www.state.gov/secretary-marco-rubio-appointed-as-acting-administrator-for-the-united-states-agency-for-international-development-usaid/

[2] https://apnews.com/article/trump-musk-usaid-c0c7799be0b2fa7cad4c806565985fe2

[3] https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/02/politics/usaid-officials-leave-musk-doge/index.html

[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Z6Ge-Reb0I4Tip_FruC6XgAAAAU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0

[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Z6Ge-Reb0I4Tip_FruC6XgAAAAU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0

[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Z6Ge-Reb0I4Tip_FruC6XgAAAAU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0

[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Z6Ge-Reb0I4Tip_FruC6XgAAAAU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0

[8] https://www.c-span.org/program/news-conference/congressional-democrats-on-trump-admin-closing-usaid-hq/655285

[9] https://www.theregister.com/2025/01/21/doge_us_digital_service_renamed/

[10] https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/usaid-security-chiefs-put-on-leave-after-trying-to-stop-musks-team-from-accessing-classified-info-officials-say

[11] https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/dec/16/elon-musk-government-security-clearance

[12] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Z6Ge-Reb0I4Tip_FruC6XgAAAAU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0

[13] https://apnews.com/article/doge-musk-trump-classified-information-usaid-security-35101dee28a766e0d9705e0d47958611

[14] https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1886102414194835755

[15] https://www.theregister.com/2025/01/27/us_state_department_freezes_cyber_aid/

[16] https://www.theregister.com/2025/01/27/us_state_department_freezes_cyber_aid/

[17] https://bsky.app/profile/wyden.senate.gov/post/3lh5ejpwncc23

[18] https://www.cbsnews.com/news/data-access-elon-musks-doge-us-treasury-lebryk/

[19] https://www.wired.com/story/elon-musk-government-young-engineers/

[20] https://www.finance.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/letter_from_senator_wyden_to_secretary_bessent_on_payment_systemspdf.pdf

[21] https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/02/elon-musk-treasury-department-doge-trump/

[22] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-02-03/musk-s-moves-on-treasury-risks-a-debate-over-us-payments-default

[23] https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1885964969335808217

[24] https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/live-updates/trump-second-term-live-updates/?id=118389757&entryId=118409600

[25] https://www.theregister.com/2025/02/03/us_tariff_analysis/

[26] https://www.theregister.com/2025/01/30/gutting_us_cyber_advisory_boards/

[27] https://www.theregister.com/2025/01/30/tesla_q4_2024/

[28] https://www.theregister.com/2025/01/29/us_government_workers_resign_deal/

[29] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnMcHC1kS70

[30] https://www.theregister.com/2025/01/15/salt_typhoon_us_govt_networks/

[31] https://www.theregister.com/2025/01/02/chinese_spies_targeted_sanctions_intel/

[32] https://www.huffpost.com/entry/elon-musk-regulations-default-gone_n_67a12742e4b09a02376043c7?82s

[33] https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1886278064012689707

[34] https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/doj-says-trump-administration-doesnt-have-to-follow-court-order-halting-funding-freeze/

[35] https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/democratic-sen-brian-schatz-puts-hold-trumps-state-department-nominees-rcna190470

[36] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/