Elon Musk Aides Initiate Tense Standoff With Government Agents Who Denied Them Access to ‘Classified Information’: CNN

Brandon Bell/Pool via AP

Individuals working with Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) were involved in a standoff Saturday night with federal employees over access to sensitive files, including “classified information” on Saturday night, CNN reported.

According to the network, multiple people with the US Agency for International Development blocked DOGE officials who had attempted to enter the agency’s building in Washington.

Officials on both sides of the standoff threatened to call the police while two officials at USAID were quickly placed on administrative leave. CNN spoke to multiple sources surrounding the incident and reported:

Personnel from the Musk-created office physically tried to access the USAID headquarters in Washington, DC, and were stopped.

The DOGE personnel demanded to be let in and threatened to call US Marshals to be allowed access, two of the sources said.

Three of the sources said the DOGE personnel wanted to gain access to security systems and personnel files. Two of those sources said also they wanted access to classified information.

As CNN noted, dozens of senior USAID employees were placed on leave last week after they were accused of trying to skirt around President Donald Trump’s pause on foreign aid.

The agency employs roughly 10,000 people and is tasked with dispensing funds for international programs for those in poverty or struggling with other humanitarian issues. NBC News reported Saturday that Trump wants to combine USAID, which it described as crippled, with the State Department.

Saturday’s reported standoff between individuals representing Musk’s DOGE and USAID employees follows a Friday incident in which The Washington Post reported DOGE sought to access sensitive files and systems at the Treasury Department. The Post reported:

It is unclear precisely why Musk’s team sought access to those systems. But both Musk and the Trump administration more broadly have sought to control spending in ways that far exceed efforts by their predecessors and have alarmed legal experts.

Musk’s aides also blocked employees of the Office of Personnel Management from accessing that agency’s computers Friday.