Democrats decry Trump payments policy upheaval

Democrats ridiculed the start of policy changes under the Trump administration that may affect both the federal payments system as well as federal oversight of consumer payments.

Over the weekend, Democrats got wind of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reportedly giving billionaire businessman Elon Musk and representatives of his Government of Department Efficiency team access to the federal payments system, according to multiple reports, including by the political news outlet Politico.

The federal payments system allows the government to make trillions of dollars of payments for social security, to government vendors and to federal workers, among other disbursements.

The DOGE activity came to light after a long-time Treasury assistant secretary involved in oversight of the federal payments system, David Lebryk, resigned on Friday over the interference.

Then this week, the Trump administration moved to oust Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra, an appointee firing that was expected. Chopra has been aggressive in seeking to impose more legal restrictions on emerging payments players in the buy now, pay later and earned wage access arenas. His department has also taken enforcement actions against payments companies, including suing Early Warning Services and banks last month related to alleged Zelle peer-to-peer payments fraud.

Trump also appointed Bessent as the acting director of the CFPB on Monday. Bessent immediately put a halt to the CFPB’s policy and enforcement work.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, decried the changes both at the Treasury Department and at the CFPB, where she had backed the work of Chopra, a protégé of hers. She alleged that Musk and his DOGE staff, including reportedly Cloud Software Group CEO Tom Krause, may inappropriately impact the payments system.

Musk himself on his social media platform X argued in recent days that payments on the federal system are being diverted to “fraud” and “waste,” without providing details. “Fraud in the federal government is closer to 10% of disbursements, so more like ~$700 billion per year,” he said. “Outright waste is at least 15%, so another trillion+ dollars.”

In addition to being the owner of X, Musk is the largest shareholder of electric car-maker Tesla and the controlling shareholder of the space exploration company SpaceX.

Congressional Democrats argued this week that Musk is an unelected donor-ally of President Trump who has no business making administration decisions.

“Elon just grabbed the controls of that whole payment system, demanding the power to turn it on for his friends or turn it off for anyone he doesn’t like,” Warren said in a statement. “One guy deciding who gets paid and who doesn’t. It is not the law, but it is the reality.”

Bessent sought to reassure Republican congressional leaders, including members of the House Financial Services Committee, during a closed-door meeting and dinner reception Monday, that Musk and DOGE didn’t have inappropriate access to the federal payments system, according to a report from Politico. He also reportedly said they have “read-only” access.

House Financial Services Chair French Hill, a Republican from Arkansas who was at the gathering, told Politico that “DOGE is going to make efficiency recommendations” for “reducing fraud, enhancing payment reliability, enhancing payment accuracy and timeliness.”

Some Democrats were unconvinced. Sen. Patty Murray, a Democrat from Washington who sits on the Senate Appropriations Committee, told Politico she doubted the explanations for Musk’s activity: “Why on earth should we believe that, particularly when he is saying the exact opposite, loudly and repeatedly for everyone to see?” Murray said.

Warren is the ranking Democrat on the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, following the shift of that chamber to Republican control this year following the results of the election in November.

She also lambasted the halt on policy and enforcement actions at the CFPB, an agency that she helped create that opened as an independent agency in 2011.

“Secretary Bessent just sent a signal to giant corporations and big banks that it is open season to cheat, trick and trap hard-working American families,” she said in a statement on Monday. “Shutting down the CFPB enforcement actions that are on the verge of delivering money into the pockets of working people is at odds with President Trump’s claim that he wants to lower costs for families.”