Elon Musk’s efforts to unilaterally dismantle the US International Development Agency may violate the United States constitution, a federal judge decided on Tuesday.
The US District Judge Theodore Chuang ordered Musk and the Government’s Department of Efficiency to immediately give USAID employees access to “Email, Payment, Security Notification, and all other electronic systems,” and ordered a pause about any effort to close USAID.
Judge Chuang wrote that the takeover of the Musk “seized the authority of the public -elected representative at the congress to make decisions about whether, and how to eliminate the Federal government agents, and the United States officials who were appropriately appointed under the constitution to carry out the authority entrusted to them.”
While Judge Chuang reprimands the role of Musk in Trump’s administration, the exact implication of the decision regarding USAID operations is unclear.
Lane Pollack, Center, from Rockville, MD., Senior learning advisors in USAID for 14 years, was entertained by coworkers after having 15 minutes to clean their belongings from USAID headquarters, Friday, February 28, 2025, in Washington. (AP/Jacquelyn Martin photo)
Jacquelyn Martin/AP
Doge and Musk are also ordered to submit written agreements within two weeks which ensure USAID can re -occupy its former headquarters at the Ronald Reagan building in Washington, DC
The Foreign Assistance Agency is one of the first government agencies deducted in its efforts to reduce or dismantle many federal governments. Trump’s government has dismissed thousands of employees, revoked funds for more than 80% of its programs, and shed the Washington head office, DC.
Criticism of Trump’s administration said that his efforts to cancel the agency will paralyze the influence of America abroad and bring destroying effects for some of the most vulnerable populations in the world, which rely on US funds for health care, food, and other basic needs.