DOGE’s bitter blow after huge USAID shuttering is rejected as ‘unconstitutional’ by Obama-appointed choose

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 that 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 fired 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

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. 

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

This story is breaking and will be updated.