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Politico
14-05-2025
- Business
- Politico
‘Glaring red flag': Treasury DOGE team discloses bank stock holdings
The Trump administration official overseeing the Treasury Department's massive financial operations reported owning stock in many of the large banks and companies that do business with the department, according to disclosures obtained by POLITICO. Tom Krause, who is also the lead official for Treasury's DOGE team, reported hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of shares in a wide range of financial companies, including those that provide services to the unit Krause oversees. He and two other Treasury DOGE team members — Todd Newnam and Linda Whitridge— also reported owning shares of Intuit, the parent company of TurboTax, which has lobbied heavily against IRS Direct File, a program targeted for elimination by Elon Musk and DOGE. Krause, who is also the CEO of Cloud Software Group, has been leading Treasury's DOGE team since January. In February, he also took on the duties of Treasury's fiscal assistant secretary after David Lebryk, a longtime career official, resigned amid a clash over DOGE's access to the payments systems. As the top official overseeing Treasury's Bureau of the Fiscal Service, Krause is at the helm of agency operations that include running the federal payments system and managing the cash and debt that finances the government. Among his financial holdings were hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of shares of JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, PNC and U.S. Bank. They are among the companies that provide financial services to the Bureau of the Fiscal Service as it disburses trillions of dollars of payments each year and seeks to collect debt owed to the government. He disclosed investments in other banks, such as Wells Fargo, Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley and Santander, which are among the financial institutions that purchase U.S. debt securities through Treasury auctions managed by the Fiscal Service. In addition, Krause, who is one of the officials leading Treasury's efforts to modernize its IT and financial infrastructure, disclosed owning shares of big government contractors like Accenture and large tech firms like Oracle, Google and Amazon. It's not clear whether he and the other DOGE team members have been required to divest from any of their financial holdings. After filing his initial financial paperwork in March, Krause disclosed in two additional filings a range of purchases and sales of assets, but none included any of his bank stock holdings. 'These Treasury and IRS employees are following all ethics laws and guidelines, including policies concerning recusals,' a Treasury spokesperson said in a statement. Krause did not immediately respond to a separate request for comment. Newnam and Whitridge also did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Several former Treasury officials and government ethics experts said the disclosures raise ethics concerns. 'It's a massive, glaring red flag of a conflict of interest here,' said Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette, the director of government at the Project on Government Oversight. 'A person at this level of [the] Treasury Department should absolutely not have direct financial ties to the industries and the companies that he or she is in part responsible for overseeing.' Don Hammond, who previously served as Treasury's fiscal assistant secretary, said there's a wide range of banks and financial companies that would be 'extremely problematic' for someone in that role to be invested in because they're service providers to Treasury. Other categories of potential conflicts include large IT contractors and the financial institutions that have an interest in how Treasury operates its sale of government debt, he said. Several large banks provide Treasury with lockbox services, payment collection services, and electronic processing services for taxes. 'JP Morgan Chase and Bank of America are huge, critical vendors to Treasury,' Hammond said. The fiscal assistant secretary 'plays a predominant role in determining the sourcing of services, the manner in which payments are conducted, and how processing is done,' he said. Julie Brinn Siegel, who was Treasury's deputy chief of staff during the Biden administration, sharply criticized the DOGE team members' investments in tax preparation software maker Intuit, which has been lobbying against the IRS Direct File program. 'The DOGE Team at Treasury killed free tax filing software, is outsourcing foundational technical infrastructure, and firing the cops who keep our financial system safe from catastrophe,' she said. 'They also have large holdings in the exact tax prep, government contracting and financial services companies that will profit from their actions. Who are they working for?' The Biden-era program, which the Trump administration kept for this year, allows taxpayers to pay their taxes for free directly to the IRS rather than use private sector tax preparation software. The Associated Press reported last month that the administration plans to end the Direct File initiative, months after Musk posted in February that his team had 'deleted' the government group working on it. The financial disclosures from Treasury's DOGE team also come amid a political and legal battle over DOGE's access to the Treasury payment system. Democrats have blasted the administration for allowing DOGE to access sensitive payment databases, and federal employee unions have accused Treasury of violating federal privacy laws. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has defended DOGE's work as a much-needed effort to overhaul antiquated technology systems and payment processing, even as he has sparred with Musk over leadership at the IRS. After several courts temporarily blocked DOGE's access to the payment system, the administration has won several efforts to remove those restrictions. A federal judge in New York is weighing a request by Treasury to dissolve the final remaining prohibition on DOGE employees getting access to the sensitive payment system.
Yahoo
17-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
A 25-year old DOGE staffer violated Treasury policy by emailing unencrypted personal data to Trump administration officials
A 25-year-old DOGE staffer violated Treasury policy by emailing a spreadsheet containing unencrypted personal data to two Trump administration officials. The email was sent by Marko Elez, who later resigned after being linked to a social media account that shared racist posts. A 25-year-old DOGE staffer violated Treasury policies by emailing a spreadsheet containing personal information to two other members of the Trump administration. In a court filing, a federal official revealed that Marko Elez sent the sensitive information unencrypted and without prior approval, which violated the Bureau of the Fiscal Service's policies on handling sensitive information. The spreadsheet, which was sent to two United States General Services Administration officials, contained some personally identifiable information (PII), but it was considered "low-risk PII because the names are not accompanied by more specific identifiers, such as social security numbers or birth dates," David Ambrose, the chief privacy officer for the Bureau of the Fiscal Service said in the filing. The email was discovered during a forensic analysis of Elez's email account and laptop carried out when the staffer resigned from his post in early February after being linked to a racist social media account. Musk, Vice President J.D. Vance, and Donald Trump all came to the staffer's defense after the account was revealed by the Wall Street Journal and Elez has since been reinstated in his DOGE role at the Social Security Administration. Elez is one of 10 DOGE workers at the social insurance agency. The United States Department of the Treasury did not immediately respond to a request for more information from Fortune. The request was sent outside normal working hours. The filing is part of an ongoing lawsuit brought by New York and other state attorneys general that challenges DOGE's access to government databases. In early February, 19 state attorneys general sued the Treasury Department, accusing the president of neglecting his duty to uphold the nation's laws by allowing DOGE to access federal computer systems. The suit successfully blocked the team from accessing the personal financial data of millions of Americans in Treasury Department records. Last month, a separate filing revealed that Elez was "mistakenly" given read-and-write access to Treasury systems during his tenure in the department. Despite having edit privileges, the new filing confirmed that Elez did not make any alterations or changes to department payment systems. Democrats and privacy advocates have opposed DOGE's access to databases containing financial records, Social Security beneficiary information, and other personal data. Their role has been loosely defined as identifying inefficiencies and potential fraud in government programs, but critics argue they lack the necessary training to handle classified or sensitive personal information properly. The team, which was assembled as part of the Trump administration's government efficiency initiative, appears to be partially staffed by young software engineers with little to no government experience. The new filing raises concerns about the data security practices employed by the team as it accesses sensitive government databases in the Treasury Department and beyond. This story was originally featured on
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
5 reasons the IRS can seize your tax refund
When you have delinquent taxes or certain other types of debt and you're owed a tax refund, you may find that the government has taken some or all of it. The Treasury Offset Program allows the Department of the Treasury to withhold money from tax refunds and Social Security benefits to pay a debt. Sometimes, this is referred to as an administrative offset or simply as an offset. It typically occurs when you owe money to federal or state agencies and haven't made on-time payments. If you're behind on payments to a state or federal agency, the agency will eventually send your name to the Treasury Offset Program (TOP). The Bureau of the Fiscal Service — the agency responsible for issuing tax refunds from the Internal Revenue Service — is authorized by Congress to reduce your refund to help satisfy the debt. When you file your tax return, the Bureau of the Fiscal Service (BFS) will search the TOP database to see if your taxpayer identification information shows you have outstanding debt. If there's no match, you'll receive your full income tax refund. But if the database reveals that you owe money, some or all of your refund could be withheld. You'll receive a letter from the BFS that includes: The amount of the original refund How much was offset The agency that will receive the payment The contact information for that agency A refund offset is one of several consequences that could result from delinquent payments to the government. Here are some other ways the government gets back its money: Refund offset: When you file your tax return with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Department of Treasury's Bureau of Fiscal Service can reduce your tax refund by the amount you owe to satisfy your debt. Garnishment: The IRS can garnish your wages to satisfy a tax debt. This is also known as a wage levy. Seizure: The IRS can take the money in your bank account if you're subject to a tax levy. It can also seize and sell assets like real estate and vehicles through a tax levy or place a tax lien against such assets. Read more: Here are 7 free tax filing options Here are some common reasons the IRS could garnish your federal income tax refund: The IRS can seize your refund if you owe state income tax or federal taxes or if you owe non-tax money to the federal government. Note: If you can't pay your taxes and you're enrolled in an IRS payment plan, the terms of your agreement state that you won't get a refund until you've paid your bill in full. But if you're making installment payments as agreed, you'll avoid more severe consequences, like a tax levy. Your refund can be garnished if you owe money to your state's unemployment agency. Individual taxpayers could face an offset if they received an overpayment of unemployment benefits due to fraud or failure to report income. For tax seasons 2020 to 2023, student loan borrowers who were delinquent on payments got a reprieve from tax refund offsets. That's because the U.S. Department of Education suspended debt collection efforts during the 37 months when all federal student loans were automatically placed in forbearance. The Education Department further delayed collections through Sept. 30, 2024, as part of a temporary on-ramp program that was called the Fresh Start Program. Now that collections have resumed, it's possible that your 2024 tax refund could be offset if you have delinquent federal student loans. There are two main ways to get out of default: Rehabilitating your loan: You enter into an agreement with your loan holder and make a specified number of on-time payments. The first step in the process is contacting your loan holder. Applying for a Direct Consolidation Loan: This option lets you consolidate multiple federal loans into a single loan with one monthly payment. Online applications are currently closed due to a court injunction that stops the Education Department from implementing the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan and certain income-driven repayment (IDR) plans, but you can still submit a paper application. Read more: Will I be taxed on student loan forgiveness? State agencies work with the federal government to submit information to the U.S. Treasury about parents who are behind on child support payments. If you have unpaid child support, your information will usually be submitted to TOP if: The custodial parent receives public assistance, and you owe more than $150, OR The custodial parent doesn't receive public assistance, and you owe more than $500. Tax refunds that are offset due to unpaid child support are used to repay any money owed to a state child support agency first. Any intercepted funds left over go to the child's custodial parent. If you're married and file a joint tax return, your tax refund could be garnished due to debts your spouse owes. In this situation, you can apply for injured spouse relief through the IRS to receive your portion of the refund, provided you weren't responsible for the debt. You'll need to submit IRS Form 8379, Injured Spouse Allocation. Only the federal government can offset a tax refund, and it will only do so if you owe a state or federal government agency money. Private creditors, like credit card issuers or a bank that gave you a personal loan, can't garnish a tax refund over delinquent debt. Note that you won't have your tax refund seized for delinquent private student loans, either. Even though a creditor can't garnish your tax refund, there are other serious consequences that can occur if you don't repay debt, including negative information on your credit report. Creditors can also sue you for money you owe. Yes. A government agency must notify you in writing at least 60 days before sending the debt to TOP. The letter must include the type of debt and amount owed, the referring agency, and the steps you can take to resolve the matter, including paying the debt, entering into a payment program, or disputing the amount owed. To dispute an offset, contact the agency listed on the offset notice you receive. You should only contact the IRS if the refund amount on your tax return is different from the amount shown on your offset notice. If you're married and file a joint return, the IRS could seize your refund if your spouse owes back taxes, owes money to a government agency, or has past-due child support. If you're not responsible for the debt, you can get your half of the joint refund you were otherwise owed if you file Form 8379. You can contact the IRS to request an Offset Bypass Refund, which gives the IRS the discretion in some circumstances to hold off on reducing your refund. You'll need to show proof that you're experiencing financial hardship. If the IRS doesn't process your request in a timely manner, you can contact the Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS).
Yahoo
12-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Musk staffer 'mistakenly' given ability to edit Treasury Department payment system, legal filings say
A 25-year-old associate of Elon Musk and former Treasury Department employee was "mistakenly" given the ability to make changes to a sensitive federal payment system, officials with the Bureau of the Fiscal Service disclosed in a series of court filings late Tuesday. Treasury Department officials said the "error" was quickly corrected, and a forensic investigation into the actions of Marko Elez -- who resigned from his position last week after The Wall Street Journal unearthed a series of racist social media posts -- remains ongoing. "To the best of our knowledge, Mr. Elez never knew of the fact that he briefly had read/write permissions for the [Secure Payment System] database, and never took any action to exercise the 'write' privileges in order to modify anything within the SPS database -- indeed, he never logged in during the time that he had read/write privileges, other than during the virtual walk-through -- and forensic analysis is currently underway to confirm this," wrote Joseph Gioeli III, a deputy commissioner at Bureau of the Fiscal Service. The high-profile mistake at BFS -- which effectively serves as the federal government's checkbook by disbursing more than $5 trillion annually -- comes as a federal judge in New York is weighing whether to continue to block individuals associated with Musk's Department of Government Efficiency from accessing Treasury Department records. Lawyers with the Department of Justice initially insisted that Elez was strictly given "read-only" access to sensitive records, but the affidavits submitted by BFS employees on Tuesday noted that the 25-year-old was inadvertently given the ability to "read/write" the sensitive system that agencies use to send "large dollar amount transactions" to the Treasury Department. According to Gioeli, Treasury Department officials also provided Elez with copies of the "source code" for multiple payment systems that he could edit in a digital "sandbox." "Mr. Elez could review and make changes locally to copies of the source code in the cordoned-off code repository; however, he did not have the authority or capability to publish any code changes to the production system or underlying test environments," the filing said. Elez resigned from his role on Feb. 6, and Gioielli claimed that the 25-year-old former SpaceX and X employee was the "only individual on the Treasury DOGE Team" who was given direct access to payment systems or source code. A "preliminary review" of his digital activity suggests that Elez stayed within the permitted bounds of his role when accessing the payment systems. "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, of any use outside the scope that was directed by Treasury leadership, or that Mr. Elez used his BFS laptop to share any BFS payment systems data outside the U.S. Government," the filing said. The filings also provided new insights into DOGE's ongoing mission with the Treasury Department, including to identify fraud, better understand how the payments are fulfilled and to enforce Trump's day-one executive order that significantly cut foreign aid. According to Thomas Krause -- a tech CEO and DOGE volunteer who is leading the cost-cutting effort at the Treasury Department -- DOGE is engaged in 4-to-6-week assessment of the Treasury Department's payment systems. He was placed at Treasury not only to identify potential fraud but also understand how to use the Department's payment systems to potentially cut funding to other parts of the government, the filing said. "BFS is well positioned to help agencies and the federal government holistically understand and take stock of the problems [Government Accountability Office] has reported on," Krause wrote. Musk staffer 'mistakenly' given ability to edit Treasury Department payment system, legal filings say originally appeared on
New York Times
12-02-2025
- Business
- New York Times
A Musk ally was accidentally given broad access to sensitive Treasury data.
A young ally of Elon Musk and former Treasury Department appointee was accidentally given the ability to make changes to a sensitive payment database, an error that a civil servant said in a court filing was quickly corrected. Career civil servants at the Treasury Department, including Joseph Gioeli, the deputy commissioner at the Bureau of the Fiscal Service, provided sworn statements in response to a lawsuit challenging the access Mr. Musk's government efficiency team gained to sensitive federal payment systems. The filings offer a more detailed recounting of the Treasury decision to grant Tom Krause, a Silicon Valley software executive, and Marko Elez, a 25-year-old former employee of X, entry to the payment systems, which distribute more than $5 trillion a year on behalf of the government. The Treasury Department and White House have repeatedly said that Mr. Elez and Mr. Krause were given only 'read-only' access to the data, which includes Americans' bank account and Social Security numbers. In a court filing, however, Mr. Gioeli said that Treasury staff discovered on Feb. 6 that Mr. Elez had been given 'read/write permissions instead of read-only' to one of the payment databases the day before. Mr. Gioeli said that Treasury staff revoked his additional access and are investigating the incident. 'To the best of our knowledge, Mr. Elez never knew of the fact that he briefly had read/write permissions for the S.P.S. database, and never took any action to exercise the 'write' privileges,' Mr. Gioeli said. Mr. Elez resigned from the Treasury Department on Feb. 6, after the discovery of racist social media posts, though President Trump has said he should be reinstated. Mr. Krause was the only other Trump appointee given access to the system, with the ability to read data initially retrieved by Mr. Elez, according to the court filings. In the filings, the career Treasury staff and Mr. Gioeli discuss steps they took to mitigate potential cybersecurity threats posed by granting access to the sensitive systems, including monitoring what Mr. Elez did. They also describe a new process Treasury created to monitor and help stop payments that the Trump administration is trying to block. Representatives from Mr. Musk's so-called Department of Government Efficiency gaining entry to Treasury's payment systems has alarmed Democrats, who have warned about potential privacy breaches and blocked spending. A federal judge in New York on Saturday blocked Trump appointees from the systems, though a subsequent order loosened the restrictions. Speaking in the Oval Office on Tuesday, Mr. Musk said his goal at the Treasury Department was to better track payments across the government to see if they were fraudulent. 'What we're talking about here, we're really just talking about adding common sense controls that should be present, that haven't been present,' he said.
