A federal judge ruled Tuesday that Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) likely used unconstitutional authority “in multiple ways” to dismantle the United States Agency for International Development.
U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang’s decision in favour of 26 current and former USAID employees seeks to “delay a premature, final shutdown” of the agency while litigation is ongoing.
His order directs DOGE to restore email and system access to current USAID employees and prohibits DOGE personnel from taking “any actions relating” to the agency without the express permission of a USAID official with legal standing.
It is the first time a judge has ruled that Musk is likely to exercise enough independent authority to require Senate confirmation under the Appointments Clause of the Constitution.
“The record of his activities to date establishes that his role has been and will continue to be as the leader of DOGE, with the same duties and degree of continuity as if he was formally in that position,'” wrote Chuang, an Obama appointee.
Chuang rejected the Trump administration’s claim that Musk is not the DOGE administrator, but rather a senior adviser to the president with no independent authority.
“If a president could escape Appointments Clause scrutiny by having advisors go beyond the traditional role of White House advisers who communicate the president’s priorities to agency heads and instead exercise significant authority throughout the federal government so as to bypass duly appointed officers, the Appointments Clause would be reduced to nothing more than a technical formality,” the judge claimed.
White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said the administration would appeal, calling the decision a “miscarriage of justice.”
“Rogue judges are subverting the will of the American people in their attempts to stop President Trump from carrying out his agenda,” she said during a press conference. “If these Judges want to force their partisan ideologies across the government, they should run for office themselves.”
DOGE’s leadership had been a mystery for weeks, with the administration insisting Musk was not a formal member of DOGE. Under mounting pressure from judges for answers, the White House eventually announced Amy Gleason as the group’s interim administrator.
DOGE has quickly infiltrated federal agencies since Trump took office, with some of its most drastic efforts directed at USAID, which distributes foreign aid around the world.
The administration implemented mass firings and froze payments to contractors, in addition to reviewing contracts on a case-by-case basis, resulting in only 500 awards remaining intact.
A different federal judge ordered the release of payments due under certain existing contracts, but he did not overturn the individual review that reduced the agency’s awards.
As the administration moved to close the agency, 26 current and former employees filed a lawsuit last month, claiming Musk and DOGE were acting unconstitutionally. They are represented by the State Defenders Democracy Fund, a left-leaning legal organisation that has filed numerous legal challenges to the new administration.
“Today’s decision is an important victory against Elon Musk and his DOGE attack on USAID, the US government, and the Constitution,” the group’s executive chair, Norm Eisen, said in a statement.
“They are performing surgery with a chainsaw rather than a scalpel, causing harm not only to the people served by USAID but also to the majority of Americans who rely on our government’s stability. This case marks a watershed moment in the fight against Musk and DOGE’s illegal practices.”
Similar Appointments Clause lawsuits against Musk have been filed by Democratic state solicitors general and a group of private organisations, but no judge has yet ruled on their claims.
Tuesday’s injunction only affects USAID. However, the judge took note of Musk’s similar efforts throughout the federal bureaucracy.
“This record must be considered alongside the fact that Musk appears to have been involved in the shutdown of CFPB headquarters as well, and the evidence that shows or strongly suggests that Musk and DOGE, despite their allegedly advisory roles, have taken other unilateral actions without any apparent authorisation from agency officials,” according to Chuang.
