Goats and Soda : NPR

Former U.S. Agency for International Development employees terminated after the Trump administration effectively dismantled the agency collect their personal belongings at USAID headquarters on Feb. 27 in Washington, D.C.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

hide caption

toggle caption

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

A federal judge has found that the Trump administration likely violated the Constitution when it effectively shuttered the U.S. Agency for International Development.

In a 68-page opinion Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge Theodore Chuang, an Obama appointee, wrote that “the Court finds that 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, and that these 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.”

The plaintiffs are more than two dozen unnamed current or recently fired employees and contractors of USAID. The defendants are Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency.

In his ruling, Chuang wrote that “the evidence presently favors the conclusion that contrary to Defendants’ sweeping claim that Musk has acted only as an advisor, Musk made the decisions to shutdown USAID’s headquarters and website even though he lacked the authority to make that decision.”

USAID employees who were fired or put on administrative leave were told to show up at the now-shuttered USAID headquarters in Washington, D.C., late last month to collect their belongings. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said most foreign aid contracts will be canceled.

Chuang in his opinion ordered DOGE team members “to reinstate access to email, payments, security notifications, and other electronic systems, including restoring deleted emails, for current USAID employees” and contractors. He also blocked defendants from taking any more steps to shutter USAID.
 
In recent days, the White House has criticized federal judges who’ve ruled against the executive branch’s authority.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.