Judge: DOGE Cuts to USAID Were Likely Unconstitutional

A federal judge ruled Tuesday that the dismantling of the US Agency for International Development likely violated the Constitution and blocked DOGE from making further cuts to the agency. US District Judge Theodore Chuang in Maryland ordered the Trump administration to restore email and computer access to all employees of USAID, including those who were placed on administrative leave, the AP reports. The lawsuit singled out Elon Musk as a defendant covered by the preliminary injunction, arguing that he was wielding power the Constitution reserves only for those who win elections or are confirmed by the Senate.

• Musk and DOGE "shall not take any action, or engage in any work, relating to the shutdown of USAID," Chuang wrote. The order comes in a lawsuit filed by attorneys for USAID employees and contractors. Chuang said the evidence suggests that Musk made decisions to shut down USAID's headquarters and website despite the administration's claim that he was merely President Trump's advisor. Musk's public statements and social media posts demonstrate that he has "firm control over DOGE," the judge concluded.

• Chuang, a Barack Obama appointee, said Musk and DOGE apparently violated the Constitution's separation of powers with cuts that "effectively eliminated" USAID, leaving it unable to perform even its legally required functions, Politico reports.
• In February, the Trump administration placed all but a fraction of USAID's worldwide staff on leave and notified at least 1,600 of its US-based staffers they were being fired. The effort to gut the six-decade-old aid agency was part of a broader push to eradicate USAID and most of its humanitarian and development programs abroad.
• The ruling is the first time a judge has decided that Musk is wielding enough authority to require Senate confirmation under the Constitution's Appointments Clause, the Hill reports. Chuang wrote that if a president could escape the clause with advisers who "exercise significant authority throughout the federal government so as to bypass duly appointed officers," the clause "would be reduced to nothing more than a technical formality."

(More DOGE stories.)