DOGE's bitter blow after massive USAID shuttering is rejected by judge

by · Mail Online

A U.S. federal judge ordered the Trump administration and billionaire Elon Musk to stop dismantling USAID and that the effort to shut it down likely violated the U.S. Constitution. 

Maryland District Judge Theodore Chuang granted a preliminary injunction on Tuesday to temporarily block the administration from closing the agency. 

'The Court finds that Defendants' actions taken to shut down USAID on an accelerated basis, including its apparent decision to permanently close USAID headquarters without the approval of a duly appointed USAID Officer likely violated the United States Constitution in multiple ways,' Chuang wrote.

He wrote the actions not only harm the plaintiffs but also the public interest 'because they deprive the public's elected representatives in Congress of their congressional authority to decide whether, when and how to close down an agency created by Congress.'

Chuang not only blocked the further dismantling of the agency but also ordered it be partially restored including some computer systems be reinstated and the agency be able to reoccupy its headquarters in Washington, DC.

Demonstrators holding signs outside USAID headquarters in Washington, DC on February 28 to support employees after Elon Musk and DOGE closed the agency and fired most of its employees 

The order is the latest in a series of blows the Trump administration and Musk's DOGE team have been dealt in court as they look to slash spending and shrink the federal government. 

A group of current and former USAID employees and contractors filed a lawsuit against Musk and DOGE after they moved to shutter the agency.

In the weeks after Trump took office DOGE aggressively moved to shut down the United States Agency for International Development. 

By February 3, employees were barred from the agency headquarters in Washington, DC and signage for the congressionally created agency was removed from building.

The USAID website was also shutdown, and the email accounts of some 2,000 employees were deactivated.  

By the end of the first week of February, more than 2,000 agency employees had been placed on administrative leave.

As February came to a close, there was an emotional scene outside USAID headquarters as employees were given just minutes to return and clear their desks of personal belongings. 

U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang temporarily blocked the Trump administration from closing USAID and ordered it be partially reinstated. He wrote Musk and DOGE's effort to dismantle USAID likely violated the U.S. Constitution in multiple ways
The lawsuit was filed by a group of former and current USAID employees and contractors against billionaire Elon Musk and his DOGE team. The judge wrote Musk and DOGE had 'effectively eliminated' USAID but the independent agency could not be dismantled or reorganized without congressional approval 

While employees were plunged into confusion, Musk over the past two months has publicly attacked the agency online as 'evil' and demanded it be shut down. Trump also signaled USAID was being dismantled. 

As it moved to dismantle USAID, the Trump administration made Secretary of State Marco Rubio its acting head. 

Earlier this month, Rubio announced that the administration had officially canceled 83 percent of USAID foreign aid contracts.  He said that the remaining 1,000 or so contracts would be administered by the State Department. 

In the opinion on Tuesday, Chuang wrote Musk, DOGE and other government officials 'acted swiftly to shut down, dismantle and effectively eliminate the USAID as an independent agency.'

But he noted that Congress made clear in law that USAID was an independent agency that could not be abolished or substantially reorganized without congressional approval. 

Chuang was appointed by President Obama to serve as U.S. District Judge in 2014. He was confirmed in the Senate 53 to 42.