Judge orders DOGE to restore USAID worker access and forbids shutdown after finding Elon Musk likely violated Constitution

U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang ordered the Department of Government Efficiency to reverse actions to shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development in response to a lawsuit from USAID workers.

Chuang said that Elon Musk likely violated the U.S. Constitution when he had workers fired and tried to shut down buildings and policies at the agency as the head of the DOGE. The judge said Musk did not have the authority to do so and ordered that any action must be approved by an authorized USAID official.

‘They are performing surgery with a chainsaw instead of a scalpel.’

The lawsuit was filed by USAID workers and contractors in February and accused Musk of violating the Appointments Clause of the Constitution. Chuang agreed with that argument in his ruling for a preliminary injunction.

“To deny plaintiffs’ Appointments Clause claim solely on the basis that, on paper, Musk has no formal legal authority relating to the decisions at issue, even if he is actually exercising significant authority on governmental matters, would open the door to an end-run around the Appointments Clause,” Chuang wrote.

He went on to say that the actions of the DOGE likely harmed the plaintiffs’ interest as well as the public interest. Chuang ordered the DOGE to restore email and computer access to USAID employees.

Democrats have vehemently criticized President Donald Trump and the DOGE on the basis that the executive branch was trampling over powers granted to Congress when it shut down agencies and polices that were congressionally implemented.

“It is unacceptable to have a president try through executive power … to reorganize or remove USAID,” said Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) in February. “This is an entity that was created through federal statute, codified through federal statute, and something that cannot be changed, cannot be removed except through actions of Congress.”

Norm Eisen of the State Democracy Defenders Fund, which filed the lawsuit, issued a statement applauding the injunction.

“They are performing surgery with a chainsaw instead of a scalpel, harming not just the people USAID serves but the majority of Americans who count on the stability of our government,” he said.

Others condemned the judge.

“The fact that this low-level Obama-appointed judge can unilaterally violate the law to undermine President Trump’s cuts to USAID is flat-out absurd,” said former Trump aide Steve Cortes. “The law is on the side of President Trump, not Judge Chuang.”

USAID had an annual budget of about $50 billion and was founded by John F. Kennedy in 1961.

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