Judge rules Musk, DOGE dismantling of USAID likely unconstitutional, orders systems restoration

(CN) — A federal judge ruled on Tuesday that the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, must halt its dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development, writing that DOGE’s actions “likely violated the United States Constitution in multiple ways.”

“Today’s decision is an important victory against Elon Musk and his DOGE attack on USAID, the United States government, and the Constitution," said State Democracy Defenders Fund executive chair Norm Eisen, representing 26 current and former USAID employees and contractors who filed the suit. “They are performing surgery with a chainsaw instead of a scalpel, harming not just the people USAID serves but also the majority of Americans who count on the stability of our government.”

U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang ordered in Maryland federal court that DOGE must reinstate current USAID employees’ and contractors’ access to email, payments, security notifications and other electronic systems.

In order “to maintain the status quo” and prevent additional potential violations, Chuang wrote, DOGE also cannot make any further cuts to the agency without an authorized USAID official’s approval. This includes terminating employees, placing them on leave, closing USAID buildings and terminating service contracts. The ruling does not require the approximately 4,200 staff on leave and 1,600 USAID employees fired by DOGE to be allowed to return to work.

The department must provide written confirmation of compliance to the court within seven days, he added.

Additionally, Chuang’s ruling marks the first court order rejecting the Trump administration’s assertion that Musk serves solely as the president’s senior adviser. Rather, Chuang wrote, Musk’s public statements and social media posts — including an X post where Musk wrote he had fed “USAID into the wood chipper” — highlight his “firm control over DOGE.”

And by leading DOGE to dismantle USAID to the extent that it can no longer perform its required functions, Chuang said, Musk and DOGE have likely acted with power limited to elected officials or individuals confirmed by the Senate.

“If a president could escape Appointments Clause scrutiny by having advisers go beyond the traditional role of White House advisers who communicate the president’s priorities to agency heads and instead exercise significant authority throughout the federal government so as to bypass duly appointed officers, the Appointments Clause would be reduced to nothing more than a technical formality,” Chuang wrote.

Formed by congressional approval in 1961, USAID is an independent federal agency responsible for administering foreign aid and humanitarian efforts abroad.

By dismantling the agency without Congress’ approval, Chuang ruled, Musk and DOGE also likely “deprived the public’s elected representatives in Congress of their constitutional authority to decide whether, when, and how to close down an agency created by Congress” in violation of the separation of powers.

Shortly after the opinion’s release, Musk replied affirmatively to a post on X suggesting the ruling was politically charged, writing, “Indeed.”

White House spokesperson Anna Kelly also suggested partisan play in a written statement sent to Courthouse News.

“Rogue judges are subverting the will of the American people in their attempts to stop President Trump from carrying out his agenda,” Kelly said. “If these Judges want to force their partisan ideologies across the government, they should run for office themselves. The Trump administration will appeal this miscarriage of justice and fight back against all activist judges intruding on the separation of powers.”

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