Elon Musk's rapid takeover of two U.S. government agencies has enabled the South African-born billionaire to exert unprecedented control over America's 2.2-million-member federal workforce and begin a dramatic reshaping of government.

Elon Musk’s campaign to cut Washington’s bureaucracy is aiming at a very specific, very sensitive digital power center: the federal IT infrastructure. Musk and his allies have gained access to the Treasury Department’s payments systems,