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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development by billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency likely violated the Constitution, a federal judge ruled Tuesday as he indefinitely blocked DOGE from making further cuts to the agency.
The order requires the Trump administration to restore email and computer access to all employees of USAID, including those put on administrative leave, though it stops short of reversing firings or fully resurrecting the agency.
In one of the first DOGE lawsuits against Musk himself, U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang in Maryland rejected the Trump administration’s position that Musk is merely President Donald Trump’s adviser.
Musk’s public statements and social media posts demonstrate that he has “firm control over DOGE,” the judge found pointing to an online post where Musk said he had “fed USAID into the wood chipper.”
The judge said it’s likely that USAID is no longer capable of performing some of its statutorily required functions.
“Taken together, these facts support the conclusion that USAID has been effectively eliminated,” Chuang wrote in the preliminary injunction.
The lawsuit filed by USAID employees and contractors argued that Musk and DOGE are wielding power the Constitution reserves only for those who win elections or are confirmed by the Senate. Their attorneys said the ruling “effectively halts or reverses” many of the steps taken to dismantle the agency.
The administration has said that DOGE is searching for and rooting out waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government, consistent with the campaign message that helped Trump win the 2024 election. The White House and DOGE did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ruling.
Musk, his team and Trump political appointee Pete Marocco have played a central role in the two-month dismantling of USAID. In one instance in early February, the administration placed the agency’s top security officials on forced leave after they tried to block DOGE workers from accessing USAID’s classified and sensitive documents.
The administration, with Musk’s and DOGE’s support, went on to order all but a fraction of the agency’s staffers off the job through forced leaves and firings, and terminated what the State Department said was at least 83% of USAID’s program contracts.
The moves were part of a broader push by Musk and the Trump administration to eradicate the six-decade-old foreign assistance agency and most of its work overseas.
Trump on Inauguration Day issued an executive order directing a freeze of foreign assistance funding and a review of all U.S. aid and development work abroad, charging that much of foreign assistance was wasteful and advanced a liberal agenda.
Democratic lawmakers and other supporters of USAID have argued Trump had no authority to withhold funding that Congress already approved.
Chuang said DOGE’s and Musk’s fast-moving destruction of USAID likely harmed the public interest by depriving elected lawmakers of their “constitutional authority to decide whether, when and how to close down an agency created by Congress.”
The lawsuit was filed by the State Democracy Defenders Fund. Norm Eisen, the nonprofit’s executive chair, said the ruling is a milestone in pushback to DOGE and the first to find that Musk’s actions violate the Constitution’s Appointments Clause, which mandates presidential approval and Senate confirmation for certain public officials.
“They are performing surgery with a chainsaw instead of a scalpel, harming not just the people USAID serves but the majority of Americans who count on the stability of our government,” he said in a statement.
Oxfam America’s Abby Maxman in a statement urged all staffing and funding to be reinstated. “The funding freeze and program cuts are already having life or death consequences for millions around the world,” said the chief executive of the humanitarian group.
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We all know USAID was one of many money laundering operations built by criminals of Congress.
This judge is only fighting for career politicians to continue fraud and waste.
We all know that you haven’t had an independent thought since you put the MAGAt hat on your head.
First of all, this, or any district judge, are wading into the ‘deep end of the pool’ without a life jacket. Classic example of desperate overreach. Conversely, AG Bondi likely will have more than enough information to file multiple criminal and civil charges for those unfortunate to be implicated in revealed fraud, theft and misappropriation. Routing illicit $ just because a person has a ‘government job’ doesn’t provide legal cover….especially when there are Billions at stake. Maybe a few indictments to former ‘underlings’ might send a proper message.
Brad: tell us you don’t understand the Constitution/appropriations process, without telling us.
All money appropriated by Congress, and signed by the President in FY2025 budget (which expires Sept.30) must be spent in accordance with the originally-passed legislation.
We can fully expect the President to challenge the Approps process for the FY2026 budget–markups start in early May for that budget. He will likely win some of this line-item fights.
But no President can unilaterally unwind the Approps process in this manner. That system has been upheld by courts for 200 years, in over three dozen precedent cases.
JCB, you sound like Trump or Musk, what proof has been shown? Nothing, the same as with many other claims made by this administration. You know; vaccines are bad, I will lower grocery prices in the first week, there are millions of dead social security recipients, alll people who do not bow to my wishes are evil, etc. There has not been one shred of evidenence to substantiate those claims. Also, according to the constitution (you know the law) only congress has the authority to appropriate and remove funding not some renegage official or his pet.
What Rick said. Republicans could make every single one of these changes as part of the usual congressional funding process. They’re intentionally choosing not to and you can draw your own conclusions as to why.
I’m just waiting for one concrete, verified example of actual waste, fraud, abuse, money laundering, or whatever the latest DOGE lie is. Every single example they give is magically retracted. However, there are a myriad examples of CHILDREN around the world dying from the sudden withdrawal of care that is the end result of this chainsaw. I know that caring about the well-being of those less fortunate isn’t really in the MAGAt indoctrination, but the rest of the country and world will look back on this as one of the most shameful moments in our history.
Wait we’re still using the Constitution? I thought DOGE had thrown that out with the rest of the “DEI” – it walks about Perfect Unions and Equality, hell it even starts with a Pronoun.
Well, then bring on those charges. I suspect they have little or no merit.
You root out fraud and abuse, in government as in business, by investigation and assembling a case. That’s not been done here. They just came in and shut down USAID, as they have with other agencies. That’s not rooting out anything, but is merely destruction of a government.
What was the criminal conduct of those folks who were responsible for overseeing and in some cases physically rebuilding the nuclear weapons? None; Mumps and Trusk and their MAGAts and MUSKrats just wanted to fire someone. That’s been the case in most of their actions. No charges, no proof, just fire people and let the chips fall. Well, the chips are starting to fall…
Trump has more indictments then he’ll obtain against any federal employee…
Agree, so far there has been no proof of any waste or fraud. Is there waste and fraud, heavens yes. However firing people and cancelling contracts to save money does not get to the root of the problem and is only window dressing. If Trump wants to wade in and get to the root of the problem fine, go for it. However all he is doing is pulling the top of the weeds and leaving the roots so the weeds will grow right back.
Reality check for the MAGA group, Trump only cares about Trump and his ego. Anyone who thinks differently has not been paying attention. It is interesting that when the table is turned and Republicans use the very same judicial tactics to stop or delay ideas they do not like, it is great. Now that the same judicial system is voiding Trump’s activities they need to be removed. My, my how the tide turns using the same process equially for both sides. Besides, Trump’s well known disdain and flaunting any law or regulation he does not like is also well known. Interesting he can pardon thousands of rioters, yet when President Biden pardons Trumps “enemies” those same pardons are null and void. What a total s**t show this administration is.