The former acting secretary at the Treasury Department reportedly is leaving after disagreeing with allies of billionaire Elon Musk over access to sensitive payment systems.
David A. Lebryk, the highest-ranking career official at the department, announced his retirement Friday in an email to colleagues, The Washington Post reported.
The Post reported that Lebryk had a dispute with Musk's proxies over access to the payment systems the U.S. government uses to disburse trillions of dollars every year.
The systems, run by the Bureau of the Fiscal Service, control the flow of more than $6 trillion annually to households, businesses and more nationwide, the Post reported. Social Security and Medicare benefits, federal salaries, and tax refunds are among what's paid from the systems.
Lebryk stopped being the department's the acting chief when Scott Bessent was confirmed as treasury secretary Monday by a 68-29 vote, with 16 Democrats supporting the nomination.
President Donald Trump named Tesla and Space X CEO Musk to head the advisory Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which was tasked with streamlining government and reducing spending.
Trump's executive order creating DOGE instructed all agencies to ensure it has "full and prompt access to all unclassified agency records, software systems, and IT systems," the Post reported.
Musk has installed longtime deputies at several agencies, including the Office of Personnel Management, responsible for federal employees, and the General Services Administration, which manages real estate.
Earlier this week, DOGE boasted it already has saved American taxpayers $1 billion per day with a goal of getting that figure up to $3 billion per day.
"DOGE is saving the Federal Government approx. $1 billion/day, mostly from stopping the hiring of people into unnecessary positions, deletion of DEI, and stopping improper payments to foreign organizations, all consistent with the President's Executive Orders," DOGE's account posted to X on Tuesday. "A good start, though this number needs to increase to > $3 billion/day."
Lebryk joined the Treasury Department as an intern in 1989 and spent three decades at the agency under 11 different treasury secretaries.
Initially, Vivek Ramaswamy joined Musk in leading DOGE. However, the former Republican presidential candidate left to run for Ohio governor in 2026.
Reuters contributed to this story.