A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
A federal judge has ruled that Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency likely violated the Constitution when they effectively shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development.
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
But President Trump is promising to appeal the decision, calling the judge rogue for interfering in DOGE's efforts to effectively shut down USAID. For the past six weeks, the Trump administration has been dismantling the agency. It's now a shadow of its former self.
MARTÍNEZ: Here to tell us more about what this new court decision means for the administration and for USAID, we're joined now by NPR's Fatma Tanis. So tell us about the case that prompted this ruling.
FATMA TANIS, BYLINE: So a couple of dozen USAID employees and contractors sued Elon Musk and DOGE, saying that their actions to dismantle the agency were reckless. They were done in a slash-and-burn manner and that Musk and DOGE didn't have the authority because Musk is not an appointed agency head who wasn't confirmed by the Senate. Now, this case is one of several other ongoing lawsuits around the dismantling of USAID. And it stands out because it directly sued Elon Musk and DOGE, whereas other lawsuits have named President Trump and senior officials, as well. The defense argued that Musk and DOGE were only advising USAID officials and that the agency's leaders were actually responsible for what happened.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah. Hut the judge disagreed.
TANIS: Yeah. He didn't buy it. Judge Theodore Chuang wrote a 68-page opinion detailing why. He said that the evidence showed that, quote, "Musk made the decisions to shut down USAID's headquarters and website even though he 'lacked the authority to make that decision.'" He said that Musk and DOGE team members likely violated the Constitution in multiple ways and deprived Congress of its authority to decide what to do with an agency that it created.
MARTÍNEZ: OK. So what does this all mean now for USAID?
TANIS: Well, there's not really much left of USAID. Most of its contracts have been terminated. The staff have been whittled down to just a couple of hundred people. Now, the judge has blocked Musk from any further steps to shut down USAID, and he ordered DOGE to reinstate access for current staff to emails and other electronic systems. But the impact of this ruling is quite minimal. It won't restore the work that the agency was doing before all of this. Humanitarian and development assistance programs, for example, are still cut.
MARTÍNEZ: OK. Now, what kind of reaction have you heard from this?
TANIS: Well, people who are critical of Elon Musk and DOGE are saying that this is a big deal because there are concerns about what Musk and his team are doing across the federal government and what their authority is. And they say that the administration has been sending mixed messages. For example, President Trump has publicly praised Musk, as he and his team got federal agencies. Trump has said Musk is doing an unbelievable job to eliminate waste and improve efficiency. But in these lawsuits, we're hearing something else. Government lawyers are saying that Musk is not in charge, that he's only there in an advisory role. Now, NPR reached out to the White House to get more clarity on this, but we have not heard back from them. And Norm Eisen, who leads the group representing the plaintiffs in this lawsuit, called the ruling an important victory against Elon Musk and his attack not only on USAID, but the U.S. government and the Constitution, he said. And, of course, as you mentioned earlier, President Trump weighed in yesterday and said, quote, "I guarantee you we will be appealing." So there's going to be more news to follow on this case.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah, more than likely. That's NPR's Fatma Tanis. Thanks a lot.
TANIS: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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