Appeals Court Lifts DOGE Limits in Musk Fight at Aid Agency (2)

A federal appeals court will lift restrictions on the role that Elon Musk and people affiliated with his Department of Government Efficiency Project can play at the US agency that oversees foreign humanitarian aid.

A three-judge panel said in an order on Friday that a Maryland federal judge couldn’t enforce his injunction while a court fight moves forward over the lawfulness of the power Musk is exercising within the Trump administration.

The decision from the 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals is a win for the Trump administration’s efforts to wind down the US Agency for International Development and, more broadly, to empower Musk’s government efficiency teams to have broad access and influence at federal agencies.

Read More: Judge Finds Musk Role in USAID Closure Likely Violated Law

While their order was unanimous, the appeals court judges were divided about the strength of the underlying constitutional challenges.

Evidence in the case showed a strong likelihood that Musk “functioned as an advisor to the president, carrying out the president’s policies of shrinking government and reducing spending, not as an officer who required constitutional appointment,” Judge A. Marvin Quattlebaum Jr. wrote for the panel.

In a statement, a lawyer for the current and former USAID employees and contractors who sued over Musk’s influence said he “strongly disagreed” with the panel’s ruling.

“Notably, though, the court did not disagree that USAID’s dismantling likely violated the constitution,” said Norm Eisen, the executive chair of State Democracy Defenders Fund. “We are considering next legal steps. This fight is far from over — it’s just beginning.”

Spokespersons for USAID and DOGE didn’t respond to messages seeking comment.

The appeals court decision blocks a March 18 ruling by US District Judge Theodore Chuang. He wrote that the USAID employees and contractors were likely to succeed in arguing Musk exercised unconstitutional power over the decision to close the agency’s headquarters.

Chuang also found that the Trump administration likely violated separation-of-powers principles in shuttering the congressionally-created agency.

Shutting Down

As part of his injunction, Chuang restricted the ability of Musk and other US officials and employees affiliated with DOGE to play a role in shutting down USAID, or to do other work at the agency without approval from a USAID official.

After a former DOGE team leader at USAID was appointed to a high-level position within the agency, Chuang told the government that his injunction still applied to that official. The judge wrote that he intended his order to cover people with “past or present” ties to DOGE “to prevent circumvention of the injunction.”

The Justice Department argued to the 4th Circuit that Chuang’s order was “an extraordinary intrusion” on the executive branch. Lawyers for the current and former USAID employees and contractors had argued that the Maryland judge had taken appropriate steps to restrain Musk, who had posted online about putting USAID “into the wood chipper.”

In a statement Friday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the administration’s actions to curb the agency.

“Foreign assistance done right can advance our national interests, protect our borders, and strengthen our partnerships with key allies,” he said. “Unfortunately, USAID strayed from its original mission long ago. As a result, the gains were too few and the costs were too high.”

The case is J. Does 1-26 v. Elon Musk, 25-1273, 4th Circuit.

(Updates with comment from plaintiffs’ lawyer, statement from secretary of state.)

--With assistance from Madlin Mekelburg and Erik Larson.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Zoe Tillman in Washington at ztillman2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Sara Forden at sforden@bloomberg.net

Steve Stroth, Peter Blumberg

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