The US Treasury official who oversees the world’s largest financial infrastructure, including the federal government’s cash-management operations and debt financing, is stepping down from the job.
David Lebryk, the Treasury’s fiscal assistant secretary for more than a decade, is leaving the department, according to an email seen by Bloomberg.
The Washington Post reported earlier that Lebryk was departing after a clash with allies of Musk over access to the Treasury’s sensitive payment systems. That infrastructure handles payments to bondholders, federal workers and government contractors.
Lambert here: Not to mention Social Security!
Any information gleaned from access to that data could be critical to Musk and his team. It’s not clear if the DOGE might have wanted access to the system’s spreadsheet on government cash inflows and outflows, or the ability to control payments.
The payment system’s architecture could be a hurdle if the DOGE team were to seek to process some obligations and not others, according to a person familiar with the system’s workings, who spoke on condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the matter.
Payment obligations are bundled together by multiple agencies and entities before they are transmitted to the Treasury for pay-out. Officials know the timing of some big transactions, such as the distribution of Social Security and Medicare benefits, but don’t see a breakout of every single payment, people familiar with the matter said.
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