Four days after Donald Trump’s inauguration, there was a request made by Elon Musk’s top lieutenants at the Treasury Department to shut off all USAID payments using the department’s payment processing system. This request was unusual for the Treasury Department and prompted a skeptical response from the acting Treasury secretary at the time, David Lebryk. Lebryk expressed concerns about the legality of stopping authorized payments certified by an agency and suggested a different approach involving the State Department.
The email exchange between Treasury officials revealed a clash between political appointees loyal to Musk and career civil servants. The controversy surrounding this issue led to Lebryk's sudden departure from government service after more than 35 years at Treasury.
