Marissa, it’s been an emotional day here in Washington DC outside of USAID’s former headquarters. We’ve seen people shed tears as they’ve shared their stories with us, and we’ve seen those people go inside for just 15 minutes under federal supervision to clear out their desks and their offices. Bringing out their belongings and bags, boxes, and in some cases suitcases. This is all part of President Donald Trump’s effort to slash the size of the federal government, but it has also upended lives and it has thrown this agency into turmoil. Supporters have now laid off USAID workers, clapping as the agency’s former employees were forced to clear their things from the now shuttered headquarters. What you’re feeling right now in this moment. I just can’t. I’m sorry. For many today was not just about packing up their offices, but mourning the abrupt end to their careers dedicated to humanitarian work. It’s hard to even put into words like how how hard it feels to lose. The effort that we put in over years to build something, Melissa says she spent years working on democracy initiatives and combating corruption in countries like Ukraine. We’re all people, right? We have kids to take care of. We have You know, parents to take care of who are aging, and so we’re all struggling with that as well. The dismantling of USAID, led by the Department of Government Efficiency under presidential adviser Elon Musk has resulted in mass layoffs. More than 5600 other employees are now on administrative leave. More than 90% of the agency’s contracts have been eliminated, and $60 billion in US assistance worldwide halted. The overall goal here with the Doge team is. Help address the enormous deficit, we simply cannot sustain as *** country $2 trillion deficits. The White House says the agency is rife with corruption and the programs do not align with its agenda. I love the concept, but they turn out to be radical left lunatics. Former workers and agency supporters rejecting that notion Thursday. We are not corrupt. We are people that decided to make *** choice to work for. The US and on behalf of the US, I spoke with many current USAID workers who are on administrative leave, and one of their big concerns, of course, is whether or not they’re going to have *** job in the near future. But something else that they keep bringing up is how shutting down this agency is going to have *** negative impact on humanitarian efforts across the world. In Washington, I’m Christopher Seas, WMUR News.
The dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development by billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency likely violated the Constitution, a federal judge ruled Tuesday as he indefinitely blocked DOGE from making further cuts to the agency.The order requires the Trump administration to restore email and computer access to all employees of USAID, including those put on administrative leave, though it appears to stops short of reversing firings or fully resurrecting the agency.In one of the first DOGE lawsuits against Musk himself, U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang in Maryland rejected the Trump administration’s position that Musk is merely President Donald Trump’s advisor.Musk’s public statements and social media posts demonstrate that he has “firm control over DOGE,” the judge found pointing to an online post where Musk said he had “fed USAID into the wood chipper.” The judge acknowledged that it’s likely that USAID is no longer capable of performing some of its statutorily required functions.“Taken together, these facts support the conclusion that USAID has been effectively eliminated,” Chuang wrote in the preliminary injunction.The lawsuit filed by USAID employees and contractors argued that Musk and DOGE are wielding power the Constitution reserves only for those who win elections or are confirmed by the Senate. Their attorneys said the ruling “effectively halts or reverses” many of the steps taken to dismantle the agency.The administration has said that DOGE is searching for and rooting out waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government, consistent with the campaign message that helped Trump win the 2024 election. The White House and DOGE did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ruling.In February, the Trump administration placed all but a fraction of USAID’s worldwide staff on leave and notified at least 1,600 of its U.S.-based staffers they were being fired. The effort to gut the six-decade-old aid agency was part of a broader push to eradicate the foreign aid agency and most of its humanitarian and development programs abroad.Trump on Inauguration Day issued an executive order directing a freeze of foreign assistance funding and a review of all U.S. aid and development work abroad, charging that much of foreign assistance was wasteful and advanced a liberal agenda.The lawsuit was filed by the State Democracy Defenders Fund. Norm Eisen, the nonprofit’s executive chair, said the ruling is a milestone in pushback to DOGE and the first to find that Musk’s actions violate the Constitution’s Appointments Clause, which mandates presidential approval and Senate confirmation for certain public officials.“They are performing surgery with a chainsaw instead of a scalpel, harming not just the people USAID serves but the majority of Americans who count on the stability of our government,” he said in a statement.__Associated Press writers Chris Megerian and Ellen Knickmeyer contributed reporting.
WASHINGTON —The dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development by billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency likely violated the Constitution, a federal judge ruled Tuesday as he indefinitely blocked DOGE from making further cuts to the agency.
The order requires the Trump administration to restore email and computer access to all employees of USAID, including those put on administrative leave, though it appears to stops short of reversing firings or fully resurrecting the agency.
In one of the first DOGE lawsuits against Musk himself, U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang in Maryland rejected the Trump administration’s position that Musk is merely President Donald Trump’s advisor.
Musk’s public statements and social media posts demonstrate that he has “firm control over DOGE,” the judge found pointing to an online post where Musk said he had “fed USAID into the wood chipper.”
The judge acknowledged that it’s likely that USAID is no longer capable of performing some of its statutorily required functions.
“Taken together, these facts support the conclusion that USAID has been effectively eliminated,” Chuang wrote in the preliminary injunction.
The lawsuit filed by USAID employees and contractors argued that Musk and DOGE are wielding power the Constitution reserves only for those who win elections or are confirmed by the Senate. Their attorneys said the ruling “effectively halts or reverses” many of the steps taken to dismantle the agency.
The administration has said that DOGE is searching for and rooting out waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government, consistent with the campaign message that helped Trump win the 2024 election. The White House and DOGE did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ruling.
In February, the Trump administration placed all but a fraction of USAID’s worldwide staff on leave and notified at least 1,600 of its U.S.-based staffers they were being fired. The effort to gut the six-decade-old aid agency was part of a broader push to eradicate the foreign aid agency and most of its humanitarian and development programs abroad.
Trump on Inauguration Day issued an executive order directing a freeze of foreign assistance funding and a review of all U.S. aid and development work abroad, charging that much of foreign assistance was wasteful and advanced a liberal agenda.
The lawsuit was filed by the State Democracy Defenders Fund. Norm Eisen, the nonprofit’s executive chair, said the ruling is a milestone in pushback to DOGE and the first to find that Musk’s actions violate the Constitution’s Appointments Clause, which mandates presidential approval and Senate confirmation for certain public officials.
“They are performing surgery with a chainsaw instead of a scalpel, harming not just the people USAID serves but the majority of Americans who count on the stability of our government,” he said in a statement.
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Associated Press writers Chris Megerian and Ellen Knickmeyer contributed reporting.
