Elon Musk's DOGE Reports Nearly $4.7T Untraceable In Federal Payments, Makes TAS Tag Mandatory - Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA)

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has made the use of the Treasury Access Symbol (TAS) mandatory, after finding $4.7 trillion in Federal Payments ‘untraceable’.

What Happened: DOGE posted on X on Tuesday that the TAS, an identification code linking a Treasury payment to a budget line item, is now a compulsory field. Previously, the TAS field was optional and frequently left blank, complicating the tracking of approximately $4.7 trillion in payments. The DOGE stated, “traceability almost impossible” for the said federal payments.

This change is part of an initiative spearheaded by Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk to reduce waste, fraud, and abuse within the federal government.

The Treasury Access Symbol (TAS) is an identification code linking a Treasury payment to a budget line item (standard financial process).

In the Federal Government, the TAS field was optional for ~$4.7 Trillion in payments and was often left blank, making traceability almost…
— Department of Government Efficiency (@DOGE) February 17, 2025

DOGE thanked the Treasury Department for its "great work" in implementing the change and hailed it as a "major improvement in Treasury payment integrity." The Treasury Department, responsible for handling trillions of dollars in government payments each year, was among the first agencies DOGE collaborated with following President Donald Trump's inauguration.

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Why It Matters: The decision to make the TAS field mandatory is part of DOGE’s broader efforts to enhance efficiency and transparency in government operations. In a recent proposal, DOGE suggested the elimination of paper checks at the Treasury, arguing it could save taxpayers "at least $750 million per year."

Additionally, in their first-ever joint interview with Fox News, Trump and Musk defended the role of DOGE in cutting government waste. Musk stated that he assumed the role to cut through bureaucracy and help prevent the U.S. from facing bankruptcy.

DOGE’s push for efficiency has already led to significant changes in other government departments. For instance, the acting commissioner of the Social Security Administration, Michelle King, stepped down following DOGE’s demands for access to beneficiary data. The Social Security payments, which make up approximately $1.5 trillion or 20% of the annual federal spending in the U.S., were at the center of this disagreement.