Elon Musk’s attempt to unilaterally dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development likely violated the United States Constitution, a federal judge ruled on Tuesday.
U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang ordered Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency to immediately give USAID employees access to their “email, payment, security notification, and all other electronic systems,” and ordered a pause on any efforts to shut down USAID.
Judge Chuang wrote that Musk’s takeover “usurped the authority of the public’s elected representatives in Congress to make decisions on whether, when, and how to eliminate a federal government agency, and of Officers of the United States duly appointed under the Constitution to exercise the authority entrusted to them.”
While Judge Chuang rebuked Musk’s role within the Trump administration, the exact implications of the decision on the operations of USAID are unclear.
Lane Pollack, center, of Rockville, Md., a senior learning advisor at USAID for 14 years, is consoled by a co-worker after having 15 minutes to clear out her belongings from the USAID headquarters, Friday, Feb. 28, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Jacquelyn Martin/AP
DOGE and Musk were also ordered to submit a written agreement within two weeks that ensures USAID can reoccupy its former headquarters in the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, D.C.
The foreign aid agency was among the first government agencies DOGE slashed in its effort to scale back or dismantle much of the federal government. The Trump administration has laid off thousands of employees, revoked funding for more than 80% of its programs, and shed its Washington, D.C. headquarters.
Critics of the Trump administration say its efforts to nullify the agency will cripple American influence overseas and carry devastating effects for some of the most vulnerable populations in the world, which relied on U.S. funding for health care, food, and other basic needs.
