WSJ: What about DOGE’s accessing the Treasury Department’s payment system?
Kraemer: We don’t have all the details of what they took and on what basis. It seems highly irregular. People from a department, which is not even a proper government department, that have gone and gotten access to data, that we have to assume is quite, I should say sensitive, which doesn’t belong in the hands of unelected individuals.
WSJ: Have you ever seen anything like this before?
Kraemer: Yes, I think I have seen this. Regimes that don’t respect checks and balances. But they tend to be more in the emerging markets. This is exactly what sets rich and poor countries apart, right? It’s the qualities of institutions, the rule of law, the transparency of decision-making.
So have I seen this? Yes. But have I seen it in an advanced economy, in an OECD member country? No, I have not.
The whole thing is here.
