The U.S. Treasury Department has given staff from billionaire Elon Musk's so-called Department of Government Efficiency "read only" access to its payment systems, a department official said in a letter sent to Congress.

WASHINGTON—The Treasury Department said Tuesday that it is conducting an “operational efficiency assessment” of its payment systems and that the agency hasn’t suspended or rejected any payment instructions,

The U.S. Treasury said on Tuesday that Elon Musk's government-efficiency team has been granted "read-only access" to its payment system codes but denied that this cut off any government payments including for Social Security or Medicare.