Listen To Story Above
The Treasury Department has disbursed $4.7 trillion in payments lacking proper identification codes necessary for budget tracking, according to DOGE’s Monday announcement, rendering these transactions virtually untraceable.
Starting Saturday, DOGE implemented mandatory use of the Treasury Access Symbol (TAS), a payment identification code designed to enhance transparency in financial disbursements.
Fox News reported on the importance of the TAS payment code:
🚨 | BREAKING: DOGE just uncovered that the Treasury Department failed to trace $4.7 TRILLION in payments.
For YEARS, the government made trillions in untracked transactions because a key tracking field was optional, until DOGE just made it mandatory.
They weren’t just wasting… pic.twitter.com/KSpMgh9Hto
— Hankâ„¢ (@HANKonX) February 17, 2025
According to the Bureau of the Fiscal Service, which is under the Treasury, TAS codes are used to describe any one of the account identification codes assigned by the Treasury and is also referred to as the “account.”
All financial transactions made by the federal government are classified by TAS when reporting to the Treasury and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
The revelation coincided with an update to DOGE.gov’s Savings page, which displayed approximately $55 billion in total estimated savings since the department’s inception.
BREAKING: DOGE just revealed that the Treasury Department lost track of $4.7 trillion! More accurately, $4.7 trillion in payments were made without any TAS to link the payments to specific budget expenditures.
Also, DOGE expected to gain access to IRS data shortly. pic.twitter.com/FAhkeVEG3F
— Ryan (@rdnewberry) February 18, 2025
“Major improvement in Treasury payment integrity going live!” Elon Musk posted on X. “This was a combined effort of @DOGE, @USTreasury and @FederalReserve. Nice work by all.”
This coding oversight emerged during DOGE’s comprehensive Treasury Department audit aimed at eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse.
Democratic opposition to the audit centers on concerns about DOGE’s authority to access sensitive taxpayer information. Fourteen state attorneys general have filed lawsuits challenging DOGE’s data access, citing executive overreach concerns.
“This is not some roving band … This is methodical and it is going to yield big savings,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a Bloomberg TV interview last week about DOGE’s audit.
