Dar es Salaam, Feb. 4 -- WASHNGTON: Billionaire Elon Musk is tightening his control over broad swaths of the United States government at extraordinary speed, prompting growing alarm from Democrats and constitutional scholars.

In the two weeks since US President Donald Trumps inauguration, Musk, the head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has upended the federal bureaucracy, prompting questions about the scope of his authority and warnings of a constitutional crisis, or even a coup.

Acting without oversight of the US Congress, Musks lieutenants have brought the work of the USs main foreign aid agency to a halt, flagged millions of government employees for redundancy, gained access to classified material and sens...