Appeals court clears way for DOGE to keep operating at USAID

Elon Musk and Donald Trump

A federal appeals court has lifted an order blocking Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency from further cuts at the US Agency for International Development. The lawsuit was among of the first filed against Musk himself. It argued that DOGE's actions were unconstitutional because he was wielding significant power without being elected or Senate approved.

A lower court judge agreed, but the three-judge appeals court panel sided with the Trump administration on Friday, at least for now. It found that while DOGE played a part in the dismantling of USAID, the cuts were approved by government officials. The 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals found that social-media posts like Musk's declaration that he 'fed USAID into the wood chipper" didn't legally prove he was making the orders.

Rather, the evidence indicates he was acting as an adviser to President Donald Trump, carrying out his policies of rooting out what he calls waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government, the court found.

'While defendants' role and actions related to USAID are not conventional, unconventional does not necessarily equal unconstitutional,' Circuit Judge Marvin Quattlebaum, who was appointed by Trump, wrote. More evidence may be unearthed as the lawsuit keeps playing out but for now the record doesn't support barring DOGE from USAID, he said.

If the plaintiffs say that the dismantling of USAID violates the constitutional separation of powers, those claims should be directed at the administration, the appeals court suggested. Their order halted a ruling from US District Judge Theodore Chuang in Maryland in a lawsuit filed by former USAID employees. He found DOGE's moves to dismantle the agency were likely unconstitutional.

Chuang had required the Trump administration to restore email and computer access to USAID employees, including those put on administrative leave, though he stopped short of reversing firings or fully resurrecting the agency.

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