US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he personally vetted a senior Treasury employee on Elon Musk’s government efficiency team who has read-only access to federal payment data, and that there’s been no “tinkering” with the department’s payment systems.

Bessent, a hedge fund manager, becomes the nation’s 79th Treasury secretary. He will lead President Trump’s economic agenda.

Bloomberg Washington Correspondents Joe Mathieu and Kailey Leinz deliver insight and analysis on the latest headlines from the White House and Capitol Hill

The staff at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was instructed by email to cease much of its work. Bessent, a wealthy Wall Street investor, replaces Rohit Chopra, who was fired on Saturday.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency team are not "tinkering" with any Treasury or IRS payment systems. He says they are doing important work.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was interviewed Thursday by Bloomberg Radio’s Saleha Mohsin in the historic Cash Room in the Treasury Building, which is just a few hundred yards from the White House.

Senate Democrats on Wednesday demanded Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent attend a meeting with the Democratic Caucus “as soon as possible” to answer questions about the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) access to a sensitive federal payment system.