A federal judge ruled on Tuesday that Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) likely violated the Constitution “in multiple ways” while dismantling the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
Newsweek reached out to a representative for DOGE for comment via email.
The Context
Musk and DOGE have been hit with a slew of lawsuits since the agency began unilaterally shutting down congressionally approved federal agencies and attempting to fire tens of thousands of federal workers.
One of those lawsuits came from 26 unnamed plaintiffs who filed the suit after DOGE began rapidly dismantling USAID, canceling the vast majority of its overseas work and leaving a skeleton crew of remaining workers.
Their suit accuses Musk and DOGE of violating the Appointments Clause of the Constitution because Musk has not been appointed by the president and is not a Senate-confirmed official.
Jose Luis Magana/AP
What To Know
On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang ruled that the 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 added that their actions “harmed not only Plaintiffs, but also the public interest, because they deprived the public’s elected representatives in Congress of their constitutional authority to decide whether, when, and how to close down an agency created by Congress.”
It is unclear if the White House plans to appeal the ruling.
This story is developing and will be updated as more information becomes available.