Judge says Musk and Doge's cuts to USAID 'likely violated' Constitution

A federal judge on March 19 blocked billionaire Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) from taking any more steps to shut down the US Agency for International Development (USAid), saying their efforts to close the agency likely violated the US Constitution.

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In a preliminary ruling, US District Judge Theodore Chuang in Maryland ordered President Donald Trump's adviser Musk and the agency he spearheads to restore access to USAID's computer systems for its direct and contract employees, including thousands who were placed on leave.

The ruling came in response to a lawsuit by current and former USAID employees, one of several currently pending over the rapid dismantling of Washington's primary humanitarian aid agency.

"Today's decision is an important victory against Elon Musk and his Doge attack on USAID, the US government and the Constitution," said Mr Norm Eisen, a lawyer representing the 26 anonymous plaintiffs in the case.

Mr Trump told Fox News his administration would appeal the ruling. "I guarantee you we will be appealing it. We have rogue judges that are destroying our country," he said on The Ingraham Angle.

Mr Trump, a Republican, on his first day back in office, ordered a 90-day freeze of all US foreign aid and a review of whether aid programmes were aligned with his administration's policy.