Chuck Darwin<p>A top-ranking official in the U.S. Department of the Treasury is resigning <br>after a fight with Elon Musk over a sensitive payment system.</p><p>The Washington Post reports that David Lebryk, <br>who has worked in the department for decades and is its longest-serving career official, <br>will depart soon, after conflicting with Musk’s deputies over access to the government’s <a href="https://c.im/tags/payment" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>payment</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/system" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>system</span></a> used to distribute trillions of dollars every year. </p><p>Until Scott Bessent’s confirmation as treasury secretary on Monday, Lebryk served as acting head of the department.</p><p>Musk’s people at his “Department of Government Efficiency” have sought access to the system since the election, the Post reports, <br>and their requests continued after Donald Trump’s inauguration. </p><p>However, the Treasury’s payment systems have usually only been accessed by a small number of career officials.</p><p>The Bureau of Fiscal Service operates the systems, <br>⭐️controlling $6 trillion of money disbursement around the country. </p><p>💥Tens, and possibly hundreds, of millions of people rely on the systems, <br>which distribute Social Security and Medicare benefits, <br>federal salaries, <br>payments to government contractors, <br>grants, and tax refunds, <br>as well as thousands of other things.</p><p>Lebryk joined the department in 1989 as an intern, <br>and has worked for three decades under 11 different treasury secretaries. </p><p>His departure at this time doesn’t bode well, <br>especially since he served in the previous Trump administration and was praised by Trump’s current deputy treasury secretary, Michael Faulkender, in 2023.</p><p>“I could not, to this day, tell you his politics,” <br>said Faulkender, <br>who worked with Lebryk in sending out stimulus payments during the Covid-19 pandemic, <br>an effort Lebryk led. </p><p>“He always seemed to be relaxed and under control.”</p><p>It appears that <a href="https://c.im/tags/Musk" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Musk</span></a>, while upending the lives of federal workers, <br>is now causing chaos with the U.S. government’s money flow. </p><p>If federal officials who have served for decades under different presidents, including Trump, <br>see a need to quit, <br>that’s not a good sign for the country.<br><a href="https://newrepublic.com/post/190983/top-treasury-official-quit-elon-musk-fight-payment-system" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">newrepublic.com/post/190983/to</span><span class="invisible">p-treasury-official-quit-elon-musk-fight-payment-system</span></a></p>