Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) discovered a code that connects U.S. Treasury payments to specific budget line items, helping account for around $4.7 trillion in payments that were often left unrecorded.

In a post on X on February 18, DOGE explained, “The Treasury Access Symbol (TAS) is an identification code linking a Treasury payment to a budget line item (standard financial process).”

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The post further noted, “In the Federal Government, the TAS field was optional for ~$4.7 Trillion in payments and was often left blank, making traceability almost impossible. As of Saturday, this is now a required field, increasing insight into where money is actually going.”

DOGE acknowledged the U.S. Treasury for its role in recognizing that the field was previously optional.

Netizens demand investigation

Meanwhile, DOGE’s post has garnered significant attention on X, amassing over 14 million views so far.

One user commented, “4.7 Trillion gone like a puff of smoke, zero accountability, zero checks and balances. Nothing.”

Another user criticized the situation, stating, “The US Treasury just tossed $4.7 Trillion of our tax dollars right out of the window. This is why they hate DOGE for exposing them.”

Expressing skepticism, a third user wrote, “It’s amazing that Trump needs $4.7 Trillion to pay for his corrupt Tax Cuts, and somehow Musk finds ‘$4.7 TRILLION in untraceable payments?’ Sounds suspicious to me!”

A different user demanded further action, saying, “Exposing this crap is great but I’m ready to start seeing arrests.”

TAS

TAS codes, sometimes referred to as the “account,” represent account identification codes assigned by the Treasury, according to the Bureau of the Fiscal Service, a division of the Treasury.

TAS is utilized to classify all federal financial transactions for reporting purposes to both the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Treasury.

This information surfaced on the same day DOGE appeared to have updated its DOGE.gov Savings page. As of Monday night, the page indicated that the department has saved an estimated $55 billion since its establishment, according to FOX News.

DOGE stated that this data would be refreshed twice a week until it eventually becomes real-time. “We are working to upload all of this data in a digestible and fully transparent manner with clear assumptions, consistent with applicable rules and regulations,” the agency noted on its website.

DOGE was established following an executive order signed by Trump and is set to function as a temporary White House agency for 18 months.

While the department has been working to terminate federal contracts and cut staff at multiple agencies, it has also faced criticism for its level of access to federal systems, including the Treasury Department’s payment system.

In response, attorneys general from 14 states have filed a lawsuit against the agency, arguing that Musk and the Trump administration have engaged in unlawful presidential overreach in their efforts to obtain federal data.