Treasury Department officials said Tuesday that the agency last week “mistakenly” and “briefly” gave a member of Elon Musk’s team the power to alter a sensitive federal payments database, prompting an internal forensic investigation that remains ongoing.

A 25-year-old member of Elon Musk’s DOGE squad who resigned after his racist social media account came to light was “mistakenly” and “briefly” given the power to alter a federal payments database, a Treasury Department official said.

Elon Musk’s cost-cutting team sought access to the government’s vast payment system, part of its bid to choke off federal funding.