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A federal district judge in Maryland has found that Elon Musk and his government efficiency department (Doge) seem to have violated the United States constitution through their efforts to dismantle an agency dedicated to distributing foreign aid.
Judge Theodore Chuang issued the preliminary ruling on Tuesday, in response to a complaint filed by 26 employees and contractors of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
“The Court considers that the actions of the defendants taken to close USAID in a accelerated way, including its apparent decision to permanently close the USAID headquarters without the approval of a duly designated USAID officer, probably violated the United States Constitution in multiple ways,” Chuang wrote in his decision.
The plaintiffs were not only damaged, he added, but the “public interest” was also.
Doge and Musk “deprived the elected representatives of the public in the Congress of their constitutional authority to decide if, when and how to close an agency created by Congress,” said Chuang.
As a result of this finding, the judge approved a temporary court order that would prevent Dogs and Musk from continuing with USAID personnel cuts, contract cancellations, buildings of buildings and the destruction of USAID materials.
“The restrictions will help maintain the status quo to delay a premature and final closure of USAID,” Chuang wrote.
It was a significant blow for Musk, whose role in the government has been ambiguous, but that has exercised a significant power due to its close relationship with the president of the United States, Donald Trump.
A technological billionaire and one of the richest men in the world, Musk is considered a “special employee of the government”, a temporary role often granted to external advisors.
In that role, however, he has led Doge in a vast campaign to restructure the federal government, by reducing its workforce, ending contracts and trying to close the entire agencies.
USAID was one of the first in Doge’s sights. When assuming the position for a second term on January 20, Trump issued a presidential order Asking for a 90 -day freezing in all foreign aid, a central part of the USAID’s work.
Established in 1961 by a Congress Law, USAID had become the main arm of the United States to distribute foreign assistance abroad.
But under Trump’s order, only the help that was aligned with the president’s foreign policy may continue.
Musk became the face of the campaign to completely close USAID. “Usaid is a criminal organization,” wrote In its social media platform X on February 2, without offering evidence. “It’s time to die.”
Later that day, musk aware Another message in X: “We spent the weekend feeding USAID at the Wood Chipper.
At the end of February, the agency headquarters in Washington, DC, was effectively closed, with employees given only 15 minutes to collect their belongings. It is estimated that 1,600 workers were fired, and another 4,700 were left on license.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio eventually announced That 83 percent of all USAID contracts had been canceled.
To justify the cuts in the government, Musk and Trump have repeatedly accused departments and agencies of having perpetrated “waste” and “fraud”, without offering evidence.
Since Usaid was established as an independent agency under the Foreign Assistance Law of Congress, Judge Chuang ruled that Musk’s actions “probably violates the constitutional principle of powers of powers.”
As part of Tuesday’s court order, Chuang required Doge to restore the access of USAID employees to electronic systems and asked the department to restore the emails eliminated.
However, Trump Allies quickly criticized Chuang, a designated president Barack Obama, for his temporal mandate.
Musk published a message on the social networks of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, who accused Chuang of partisanship. “In fact,” musk wrote In a word response.
