Musk-Led Dismantling of USAID Likely Violated Constitution, Judge Finds
He ordered DOGE to stop efforts to shut down what's left of USAID as Catholic Relief Services warned that slashing programs threatens the lives of millions of impoverished people.
By Gary Gately
The dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development by Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency likely violated the Constitution in “multiple ways,” a federal judge found Tuesday.
Judge Theodore D. Chuang of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland issued a preliminary injunction ordering DOGE not to take any further actions “relating to the shutdown of USAID,” including firing any more employees or terminating additional contracts. He also ordered DOGE to restore email and computer access to all USAID employees, including the more than 4,700 placed on administrative leave.
Chuang wrote in a 68-page opinion that Musk and DOGE had likely violated the Constitution’s “appointments clause,” which requires that Executive Branch officers wielding “significant power” must be appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate.
DOGE’s dismantling of USAID also likely violated the Constitution’s separation of powers, Chuang said, because it “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.”
Last week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced in a post on X (formerly Twitter) that 5,200 of about 6,200 USAID contracts, or 83%, had been eliminated after a six-week review. Rubio, a Catholic who had been a staunch supporter of USAID during his 14 years as a Florida senator, said the surviving programs would be administered by the State Department.
“Thank you to DOGE and our hardworking staff who worked very long hours to achieve this overdue and historic reform,” Rubio added.
For more than six decades, USAID-funded programs have fought famine, alleviated poverty, delivered lifesaving healthcare, provided shelter to the displaced, assisted victims of disasters, and fostered democracy, peace, stability and sustainability.
The deep cutbacks in USAID programs threaten the lives of millions of the world’s most impoverished people, Catholic Relief Services and numerous other international humanitarian aid organizations warned.
President Donald J. Trump and Musk have targeted USAID almost from the day the president took office on January 20. Hours after his inauguration, Trump signed an executive order imposing a 90-day freeze on almost all foreign aid to review whether the spending is “fully aligned” with U.S. foreign policy.
Trump and Musk have repeatedly claimed widespread fraud and waste within USAID, without evidence They have also said the agency has promoted ideas that run counter to American interests, including by funding LGBTQ-related programs.
Chuang’s preliminary injunction came in a February lawsuit filed by 26 unnamed USAID employees challenging DOGE’s dismantling of the 63-year-old agency.
Lawyers for the employees wrote in a court filing that Musk’s gutting of USAID is in keeping with his ”predictable and reckless slash-and-burn pattern” in dismantling U.S. government agencies and departments.
“The lack of any formal appointment, congressional authorization, or duties that are clearly defined in law renders [DOGE’s] government takeover a direct affront to the Constitution’s structural safeguards against tyranny,” the lawyers wrote.
Justice Department lawyers countered that Musk had no formal authority over USAID or other federal agencies or departments. USAID’s leaders, not Musk, have been responsible for actions such as stopping agency spending and putting employees on administrative leave, the lawyers said in a court filing.
Musk, the lawyers wrote, “has no greater authority than other senior White House advisers, and like them, has no actual or formal authority to make government decisions himself; he can only advise the President and communicate the President’s directives.”
But Chuang retorted that evidence "favors the conclusion that contrary to sweeping claims that Musk has acted only as an advisor, Musk made the decisions to shut down USAID's headquarters and website even though he lacked the authority” to do so.
The judge also wrote that Musk’s numerous public statements and social media posts taking credit for dismantling the agency showed that he had “firm control over DOGE.”
Chuang cited X posts in which Musk, the world’s richest man, has repeatedly taken aim at an agency that assists millions of the world’s poorest people.
In an early February post cited by the judge, Musk called USAID a “criminal organization,” without evidence, and said it’s “time for it to die.”
In another post, he joked about decimating USAID, writing: “We spent the weekend feeding USAID into the wood chipper. Could [have] gone to some great parties. Did that instead.”
Chuang also pointed out that USAID security officials were placed on administrative leave in early February after they attempted to prevent DOGE workers from accessing the agency’s classified personnel and financial documents at its Washington headquarters.
And while Musk said in a February 3 live broadcast on X that he and other DOGE team members were “in the process” of “shutting down USAID,” DOGE members emailed all USAID staff to say the agency’s headquarters would be closed that day, Chuang said in his opinion. That day and the following day, more than 2,000 USAID employees were placed on administrative leave.
But Chuang did not reverse firings of employees and acknowledged that “USAID has been effectively eliminated.”
Norman J. Eisen, an attorney with the State Democracy Defenders Fund who represented the USAID employees, praised the judge’s decision.
“Today’s decision is an important victory against Elon Musk and his DOGE attack on USAID, the United States’ government, and the Constitution,” Eisen, who is also the organization’s executive chairman, said in a statement. “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. This case is a milestone in pushing back on Musk and DOGE’s illegality.”
Anna Kelly, the White House deputy press secretary, said Tuesday that Chuang is among the “rogue judges” who are “subverting the will of the American people in their attempts to stop President Trump from carrying out his agenda.”
“If these Judges want to force their partisan ideologies across the government, they should run for office themselves,” Kelly said in a statement.
She added that the Trump administration will “appeal this miscarriage of justice and fight back against all activist judges intruding on the separation of powers.”
Meanwhile, Catholic Relief Services harshly criticized the State Department’s decision to slash more than 80% of USAID programs.
“By ending these life-saving programs, our government is not only neglecting our nation’s responsibility, but also weakening the very foundations of peace, stability and prosperity,” CRS said in a statement Monday.
The State Department terminated dozens of CRS’ “life-saving programs that will permanently cut off aid to more than 20 million people worldwide,” CRS said.
CRS, the official overseas relief and development agency of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), founded by U.S. bishops in 1943, now serves 225 million of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people in 122 countries. The NGO had been the top recipient of USAID funds, relying on the agency for roughly half its $1.5 billion annual budget in 2023.
CRS also said that over the past six weeks, it has been forced to halt much of its work because USAID has not made payments for costs incurred before the agency issued stop-work orders in late January. As a result, CRS said, food in warehouses could not be distributed to the hungry and women and children could not get vital health and nutrition services.
CRS urged the Trump administration to reverse the termination of programs and promptly make overdue payments to restore the relief agency’s ability to continue its “life-saving and life-giving assistance.”
You can help CRS in its worldwide humanitarian efforts by donating to its annual Lenten CRS Rice Bowl program, dedicated to alleviating global hunger and poverty in countries including the U.S. (See below for details on how to donate.)
Pope Francis applauded the CRS Rice Bowl program, now in its 50th year.
In a message Friday, the pontiff wrote: “For five decades now, the Rice Bowl program has offered a concrete way for Catholics to give alms as they seek to put their faith into action. When caring for our neighbor, we must always remember that charity is to be given without qualifications or limits, as Jesus teaches us in the parable of the Good Samaritan. In doing so, we reflect the closeness, compassion, and tender love of God who cares for all of his children in the one human family….
“We must continuously strive to help others realize that the serious challenges currently affecting so many of our brothers and sisters, including war, forced migration and hunger, concern all of us.”
You can donate to CRS Rice Bowl online, by phone or by mail:
Online: crsricebowl.org/give (English), crsplatodearroz.org/donar (Spanish)
By Phone: Call 877-435-7277 Monday through Friday between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m., and Saturday between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time and tell the operator that the gift is for CRS Rice Bowl.
By Mail: Write “CRS Rice Bowl” on the memo line of your check and mail it to: Catholic Relief Services, Attention: CRS Rice Bowl, P.O. Box 5200 Harlan, IA 51593-0700.