Legal experts cheered Tuesday as a federal judge ruled that Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency likely violated the Constitution in their attempts to close the U.S. Agency for International Development.
When he came into office, President Donald Trump created DOGE by executive order and tasked the tech billionaire Musk with slashing trillions out of the federal budget. That initiative has been behind the upheaval and dismantling of government agencies. Websites, grants, programs, and employees have been cut or frozen under the promise that Trump will save taxpayers trillions.
USAID was among the first agencies to be gutted.
However, U.S. District Court Judge Theodore D. Chuang demanded Tuesday afternoon that the administration reinstate employee access to USAID email, payment, security notification, and all other electronic systems within a week. The administration is also barred from disclosing any personally identifiable information and is prohibited from taking any actions to shut down USAID, explained MSNBC and Just Security legal analyst Adam Klasfeld.
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Lawyer and writer Luppe B. Luppen praised the ruling.
"This decision is imho unquestionably correct under our constitution and only remarkable insofar as it takes courage to render a correct decision in the atmosphere of pervasive intimidation emanating from the White House," said Luppen on Bluesky.
"This is where the rubber hits the road on the unitary executive argument," Luppen said, posting a screen capture of page 48.
"Plaintiffs do not challenge individual decisions on what particular foreign aid initiatives should be advanced, whether to provide foreign aid to a particular nation, or how USAID personnel should operate in a foreign nation," the ruling reads. "Rather, they challenge the treatment within the agency of USAID personnel and contractors, the vast majority of whom are located in the United States and whether their agency should operate independently or be shut down and absorbed into other parts of the federal government."
It goes on to say that under the government's theory, the president could completely eliminate the State Department as a whole under the claim that it's a policy disagreement with its purpose.
Luppen commented, "So, I’d guess this is the part that will be the subject of the most appellate scrutiny (even though it’s obviously right if Youngstown is still right)."
Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer is a 1952 case in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled President Harry Truman could not seize steel mills during the Korean War without congressional authorization. It was ruled unconstitutional.
Politico legal analyst Kyle Cheney pointed out, "This is the first order that appears to specifically constrain Musk himself."
"Get the USAID sign back up, the staff back in, and the aid back out to those who need it NOW," cheered Dylan Williams, lawyer and government affairs professional.
Cristian Farias, legal journalist at Vanity Fair, wrote on Bluesky: "First judge to find that Elon Musk's designation to lead the so-called Department of Government Efficiency likely violates the Appointments Clause of the Constitution because he's exercising significant authority reserved for duly appointed officers of the United States."
