The US’s top financial regulators have received a warning from politicians in Congress to block Elon Musk’s attempts to gain access to federal payment systems and other sensitive data.

On Wednesday 12 February, Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative Maxine Waters wrote to the regulators stressing that recent attempts by members of the newly established Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which Musk leads, to gain access to sensitive systems and information are “unlawful and inappropriate.”

The letter has been sent to Jerome Powell, Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System; Travis Hill, Acting Chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; Rodney E Hood, Acting Comptroller; and Kyle S Hauptman, Chairman of the National Credit Union Administration.

“We write to you deeply concerned by the recent actions of the Trump Administration, particularly Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) gaining access to key payment systems and government databases with sensitive data, including personally identifiable information (PII) of nearly all Americans, as well as confidential supervisory information (CSI) and sensitive business information about competitors to businesses that Elon Musk owns,” the letter reads.

“This data could meaningfully benefit Elon Musk’s commercial companies.”

Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative Maxine Waters

The two key Democrats have also warned that Musk could potentially use the data for his own personal business interests, and against his rivals in the future.

“This data could meaningfully benefit Elon Musk’s commercial companies, like X, which has plans to be expanded into a payment app that would compete with bank and credit union payment offerings,” the pair say.

Regulators have also been asked to notify Congress if their staff have received any requests from DOGE members for access to sensitive data, and if they receive any such requests in the future.

Systemic clashes

Tasked with keeping government spending in check, the DOGE, which is not an official US government agency, was formed by President Donald Trump last November. He nominated his key campaign ally and supporter Musk to lead it.

The move has been widely criticised as politically motivated. Critics have also said the agency, and Musk himself, is overstepping its authority and dictating official government business.

But earlier this week, Musk told reporters at the White House there was no attempt to mount a ‘hostile takeover’ of the government, and that he was only doing what the people wanted, which is to cut government spending.

However, reports emerged this month that the agency had gained access to key data held by the US Treasury, which people familiar with the matter said included “Social Security and Medicare customer payment systems.”

Last Saturday, a US federal judge intervened by issuing a temporary order which stopped DOGE members from accessing sensitive systems, citing data protection risks.

Certain measures by the Trump administration have already caused turmoil in US regulatory circles. Last week, the newly appointed caretaker chief of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ordered its offices to be shut and told staff to stop all supervisory activities.

Also last month, Trump issued an executive order stopping hundreds of billions of federal funds in an attempt to cut spending. But a US District judge issued a temporary injunction to reverse the decision and later said the Trump administration had violated the court order by not complying and permitting the freeze to remain in effect.