President of minor USAID agency refuses access to DOGE team and files lawsuit against shutdown

The leader of a small agency organizing U.S. aid to Africa refused to allow the Department of Government Efficiency access to the building and filed a lawsuit against the actions of the Trump administration.

United States African Development Foundation president and CEO Ward Brehm issued a letter challenging the authority of Pete Marocco, who was tasked with shutting down the U.S. Agency for International Development, and saying he was not allowing Marocco access to USADF.

‘The consequences of this decision will be devastating for the world’s most vulnerable populations.’

“I will look forward to working with Mr. Marocco after such time that he is nominated for a seat on the Board and his nomination is confirmed by the Senate,” read the letter from Brehm. “Until these legal requirements are met, Mr. Marocco does not hold any position or office with USADF, and he may not speak or act on the Foundation’s behalf.”

Brehm also filed a lawsuit asking for a court to order Brehm as the president of USADF and denying the installation of Marocco without congressional approval.

“First, DOGE gained access to the agency under the false pretenses of modernizing and streamlining USADF’s computer systems,” the lawsuit claimed. “When USADF learned that DOGE was there to kill the agency, USADF staff refused DOGE access to cancel all grants and contracts. DOGE employees began threatening members of the Board — telling them that unless they carried out DOGE’s plans to strip USADF to its core, the Board would be fired.”

Brehm wrote an opinion editorial in January where he identified himself as “politically conservative” and said Trump’s “reckless and cruel” suspension of foreign aid would needlessly cost lives abroad.

“The consequences of this decision will be devastating for the world’s most vulnerable populations. Innocent families living in refugee camps already stretched to the breaking point will bear the brunt of this sudden halt,” he wrote.

“The disruption of providing clean water, lifesaving drugs, and training to people who are striving to create better lives for themselves and their families will result in illness and death,” he added. “All of these people in desperate need are not just numbers in a budget or statistics in a report. They are human beings.”

The budget of USADF is about $46 million.

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