A federal district judge in Maryland found that Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) appear to have violated the U.S. Constitution through their efforts to dismantle agencies dedicated to the distribution of foreign aid.
Judge Theodore Chuan announced the preliminary verdict on Tuesday in response to complaints filed by 26 employees and contractors with the United States Organization for International Development (USAID).
“The court found that the defendant’s lawsuit filed to close USAID on an accelerated basis, including the obvious decision to permanently close the USAID headquarters without the approval of a duly appointed USAID officer, was likely likely to have violated the US Constitution in multiple ways,” Chuan wrote in his decision.
He added that not only did the plaintiff get hurt, but “public interest” also harmed him.
Doge and Musk “representatives who were elected in Parliament have taken away their constitutional authority to decide whether, when and how the institutions created by Parliament will be closed,” Chuan said.
As a result of that finding, the judge approved a temporary injunction that would prevent Doge and Musk from continuing to cut down on USAID-related staff, cancel contracts, build closures and destroy USAID materials.
“This limit will help us maintain the status quo to delay the premature final shutdown of USAID,” Chuan writes.
Although Musk’s role in the government was a huge blow, he has used important forces to help him closely with President Donald Trump.
A high-tech billionaire and one of the world’s wealthiest men, Musk is considered a “special government employee.” This is a temporary role that is often given to external advisors.
But in that role, he has led Doge in a massive campaign to rebuild the federal government through attempting to reduce the workforce, terminate contracts and shut down the entire agency.
USAID was one of the first in Doge’s crosshairs. Upon his second term on January 20th, Trump issued an executive order calling for a 90-day freeze on all foreign aid, the center of USAID’s work.
Established by the Congressional Act in 1961, USAID has become a major U.S. troops for distributing foreign aid overseas.
However, under Trump’s orders, only aid consistent with the president’s foreign policy will be allowed to continue.
The mask has become the face of a campaign to shut down USAID altogether. “USAID is a criminal organization,” he wrote on social media platform X on February 2nd, but without providing evidence. “That’s the time to die.”
That day, Mask posted another message to X [have] We went to some great parties. I did that instead. ”
By the end of February, the agency’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. had effectively closed, with employees being given only 15 minutes to collect their belongings. An estimated 1,600 workers were fired, and another 4,700 were taken on leave.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio ultimately announced that 83% of all USAID contracts have been cancelled.
To justify government-wide cuts, Musk and Trump repeatedly accused departments and agencies of committing “waste” and “fraud” without providing evidence.
Given that the USAID was established as an independent body under the Congressional Foreign Aid Act, Judge Chuan ruled that Musk’s actions were “highly likely to violate the constitutional principles of separation of power.”
As part of Tuesday’s injunction, Chuang requested that Doge restore access to electronic systems for USAID employees and asked the department to restore deleted emails.
But Trump’s allies quickly denounced former President Barack Obama’s appointee Chuan for a temporary injunction.
Musk reposted a social media message from conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, who accused Chuang of being partisan. “That’s true,” Musk wrote in a single reply.
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