Musk, CEO of X (formerly Twitter), has been on a posting spree, using his platform to justify and denigrate his takeover of USAID. He’s called the agency " evil ," a " criminal organization ," and a "viper’s nest of radical-left Marxists who hate America."

Members of Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency eventually did gain access Saturday to the aid agency’s classified information, which includes intelligence reports, the former official said.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent gave Mr. Musk’s representatives at the so-called Department of Government Efficiency a powerful tool to monitor and potentially limit government spending.