A federal judge ruled Tuesday that Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency’s efforts to dismantle USAID were “likely” unconstitutional “in multiple ways.”
Chuang wrote that he agreed with the plaintiffs and said that DOGE had violated the separation of powers clause because its actions to shutter USAID “contravene congressional authority relating to the establishment of an agency.”
“The Court find 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, and these actions harmed not only Plaintiffs, but also the public interest, because they 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,” Chuang wrote.
Chuang agreed to grant some, but not all, of the relief requested by the plaintiffs, saying that while the the mass personnel and contract terminations were part of DOGE’s efforts to permanently dismantle USAID, the court would not enjoin them because the record “presently supports the conclusion that USAID either approved or ratified the decisions, so such relief would effectively enjoin USAID.”
The order did enjoin Musk and DOGE from ordering additional terminations of employees, contracts, and grants, as well as efforts to destroy records at USAID or its website.
The order barred Musk and DOGE from taking “any actions relating to USAID without the express authorization of a USAID official with legal authority to take or approve the action,” and required DOGE to “reinstate access to email, payments, security notifications, and other electronic systems including restoring deleted emails, for current USAID employees and PSCs,” to address the plaintiffs’ “ongoing security and privacy concerns.”
The order also requires Musk and DOGE to agree to allow all parties to reoccupy USAID’s headquarters, which were raided and ordered empty last month, in the event of a final ruling in favor of the plaintiffs.
This story has been updated.
