A U.S. federal judge ordered the Trump administration and billionaire Elon Musk to stop dismantling USAID and that the effort to shut it down likely violated the U.S. Constitution.Â
Maryland District Judge Theodore Chuang granted a preliminary injunction on Tuesday to stop the administration from closing the agency.Â
‘The Court finds 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,’ Chuang wrote.
He wrote the actions not only harm the plaintiffs but also the public interest ‘because they deprive the public’s elected representatives in Congress of their congressional authority to decide whether, when and how to close down an agency created by Congress.’
Demonstrators holding signs outside USAID headquarters in Washington, DC on February 28 to support employees after Elon Musk and DOGE closed the agency and fired most of its employeesÂ
The order is the latest in a series of blows the Trump administration and Musk’s DOGE team have been dealt in court as they look to slash spending and shrink the federal government.Â
A group of current and former USAID employees and contractors filed a lawsuit against Musk and DOGE after they moved to shutter the agency.
In the weeks after Trump took office DOGE aggressively moved to shut down the United States Agency for International Development.Â
By February 3, employees were barred from the agency headquarters in Washington, DC and signage for the congressionally created agency was removed from building.
The USAID website was also shutdown and the email accounts of some 2,000 employees were deactivated. Â
By the end of the first week of February, more than 2,000 agency employees had been placed on administrative leave.
This story is breaking and will be updated. Â