Below is a news release issued from U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen’s office on Thursday at 7 p.m. The editor’s note below shows the roll call vote in which Sens. Shaheen and Hassan voted “yes” on Bessent’s nomination and criticism they received on Bluesky.
Editor’s note by Nancy West: Sens. Hassan and Shaheen didn’t respond to InDepthNH.org’s questions about a posting on Bluesky that criticized them both for voting yes on Bessent’s nomination. @muellershewrote.bsky.social posted, “These are the dems that voted to confirm the guy that just handed the Treasury to Musk: Blunt Rochester Booker Cantwell Coons Fetterman Gallego Gillibrand Hassan Hickenlooper Kaine Kelly King (Independent) Peters Shaheen Slotkin Warner.” Link to the Senate roll call on Bessent’s nomination: https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1191/vote_119_1_00019.htm New Hampshire’s Congressional delegation is comprised of all Democrats.
The following is Sen. Shaheen’s press release Thursday at 7 p.m. including the headline: “Shaheen Leads New Hampshire Congressional Delegation in Demanding Answers from Treasury Secretary Bessent on DOGE’s Access to Federal Payment Systems and Americans’ Highly Sensitive Information, Urges Him to Reverse Potentially Dangerous Decision
Washington, DC – U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan alongside Reps. Chris Pappas and Maggie Goodlander, are demanding answers from U.S. Department of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent regarding his decision to grant Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and its team access to critically important federal payment systems – including highly sensitive personal information linked to Medicare, Social Security and veterans’ benefits.
The delegation wrote, in part: “Not only does DOGE now have access to the personal information of our constituents…but he may also soon have the tools to unlawfully shut down specific payments that he disagrees with. DOGE may also be able to use this sensitive information to gain an advantage over individuals and companies that pose competition to Mr. Musk’s businesses…Initial reports indicated that you gave DOGE access to the payment systems on a “read-only” basis…However, other reporting has stated that Marko Elez, a member of Mr. Musk’s team, has or had administrator-level privileges and can in fact write code to Treasury payment systems, including the Payment Automation Manager and Secure Payment System.”
The delegation asked the following questions:
“In detail, what level of access has each member of the DOGE team, including but not limited to Marko Elez, been given to Treasury’s federal payment records and systems, both currently and in the past?
Have any changes to Treasury’s federal payments or its payment systems been made either by a member of the DOGE team or at their direction as of the time of this letter?
Has Treasury taken any actions to discourage discussion of the activities of the DOGE team at Treasury, especially within the Bureau of the Fiscal Service?
What steps has Treasury taken to ensure that Treasury employees understand their protections should they wish to share information with Congress and others?”
The delegation concluded: “We urge you to reconsider this potentially dangerous decision and work to ensure that Americans can trust their sensitive personal information is protected from Mr. Musk and his associates. Thank you for your prompt attention to this issue and given the urgent nature of this issue, we respectfully request a response to this letter as soon as possible.”
Click here for the full letter to U.S. Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent.
For months, Shaheen has sounded the alarm on Elon Musk’s outsized influence on the U.S. Government.”
