State Department Hit With Grant Breach Lawsuit in Claims Court

March 18, 2026, 7:11 PM UTC

The US State Department and US Agency for International Development unlawfully terminated foreign assistance grants and cooperative agreements after receiving directives from inexperienced DOGE personnel, several organizations said in a new lawsuit.

The terminations violated regulations that don’t permit suspensions or stop-work orders on policy grounds, and they occurred because of the “whims and dictates of DOGE officials” who lacked any knowledge of foreign policy grants, the organizations told the US Court of Federal Claims in a March 17 complaint.

The US Department of Justice didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The organizations, which ...

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