Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has uncovered $4.7 trillion in U.S. Treasury payments that were nearly impossible to trace due to missing identification codes. The payments, which lacked Treasury Access Symbol (TAS) codes, were left unlinked to specific budget items, creating a massive transparency issue.
DOGE announced the discovery in a post on X, explaining that the missing TAS codes made it difficult to track how federal funds were being spent. In response, Musk and the Treasury Department implemented a rule requiring all future payments to include the necessary tracking information. Musk praised the change, calling it a “major improvement in Treasury payment integrity.”
While Musk has played a key role in exposing financial inefficiencies, the White House clarified that he is not an official government employee and serves only as a senior advisor to Trump. Despite this, Trump has continued referring to Musk as the leader of DOGE, giving him influence over cost-cutting initiatives.
The Treasury Access Symbol (TAS) is an identification code linking a Treasury payment to a budget line item (standard financial process).
— Department of Government Efficiency (@DOGE) February 17, 2025
In the Federal Government, the TAS field was optional for ~$4.7 Trillion in payments and was often left blank, making traceability almost…
The revelation has sparked concerns over how such a large amount of money went unaccounted for. With Musk pushing for increased financial oversight, further investigations into government spending could follow in the coming months.
