Billionaire businessman Elon Musk is on a collision course with lawmakers on Capitol Hill who are starting to challenge his authority.

Senate Republicans acknowledge they need to cut government spending, but Musk’s bold decision to lock federal workers out of the U.S. Agency for International Aid (USAID), which Musk called “a ball of worms” and a “criminal organization,” caught them by surprise.

They are now questioning the basis of Musk’s authority to shutter an agency Congress funds annually through the appropriations bills for the State Department and foreign operations.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said she has questions about whether President Trump’s authorization is enough to empower Musk to override Congress’s funding directives.

“The president is suggesting that he has authorization. I think there is more than some question,” she said.

Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) said Musk or other senior administration officials need to notify Congress in advance before shuttering or reorganizing federal agencies.

Collins said whether Musk had the authority to shut down USAID “is a very legitimate question.”

“There is a requirement in the law for 15 days' notice of any reorganization. We clearly did not get that. We got the letter yesterday,” she said.

Collins said the law “also calls for a detailed explanation of any reorganizations, renaming of bureaus, shifting of centers, and again we have not received that.”

She said she would talk to fellow Appropriations Committee members “about our next steps.”

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) warned that simply shutting down a federal........

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