A recent ruling by a federal judge declared that the disbanding of the U.S. Agency for International Development likely breached the Constitution. The judge also halted further reductions to the agency by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.
The decision came from U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang in Maryland. He mandated the Trump administration to reinstate email and computer privileges for all USAID staff, even those who had been put on administrative leave.
The legal action pinpointed Musk as a respondent affected by the temporary order, asserting that he was exerting authority typically reserved by the Constitution for elected officials or Senate-confirmed individuals.
Supporters cheers USAID workers, as they carry their personal belongings after retrieving them from the USAID’s headquarters in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025.
AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana
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 Donald Trump’s advisor. Musk’s public statements and social media posts demonstrate that he has “firm control over DOGE,” the judge concluded.
The judge acknowledged that it’s unlikely 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 February, the Trump administration placed all but a fraction of USAID’s worldwide staff on leave and notified at least 1,600 of its U.S.-based staffers they were being fired. The effort to gut the six-decade-old aid agency was part of a broader push to eradicate the foreign aid agency and most of its humanitarian and development programs abroad.
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. Trump charged that much of foreign assistance was wasteful and advanced a liberal agenda.
The White House and DOGE did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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Associated Press writer Chris Megerian contributed reporting.
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