Category: DOGE

Federal Judge Halts Trump And Musk’s Attempt To Dismantle USAID, Challenging DOGE Cuts

(L) U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang. (Photo via: United States District Court – District of Maryland) / (R) A worker removes the U.S. Agency for International Development sign on their headquarters on February 07, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)

OAN Staff James Meyers
4:00 PM – Tuesday, March 18, 2025

A federal judge ruled on Tuesday that Elon Musk likely acted unconstitutionally with his directive to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), also halting the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from making any more cuts to the agency.

The Trump administration is likely to appeal the decision.

Maryland U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang imposed a preliminary injunction, mandating that the Trump administration restore email and computer access to all employees who work for USAID — including those who were placed on administrative leave.

Chuang was nominated by former Democratic President Barack Obama on September 25th, 2013, and he received his commission on May 2nd, 2014.

The judge has also restricted the Tesla founder and DOGE from taking action against USAID without “express authorization” from an official at the agency.

“The court finds that Defendants’ unilateral action to shut down USAID likely violated the United States Constitution,” Chuang wrote in a 68-page ruling, giving the White House seven days to confirm in writing that access was restored to USAID employees.

The administration will have two weeks to submit documentation confirming that USAID “will be able to reoccupy USAID headquarters at its original location.”

The ruling comes after the DOGE organization shut down USAID, fired all employees, and removed signage from its headquarters in D.C. — in addition to ending programs worldwide. Soon after, the administration applauded the cutting of wasteful government funding, including $60 billion in foreign aid spending and 92% of USAID grants.

After taking back the White House, Trump was highly critical of the agency, explaining that it had “been run by a bunch of radical lunatics, and we’re getting them out.”

72nd Secretary of State Marco Rubio was named as its acting administrator.

The main legal questions asked about the actions of DOGE are what Musk’s role is, whom Trump has previously suggested is the leader of the organization. However, lawyers for the administration have stated in legal documents that Musk is a “special government employee” (SGE) of the president.

NPR also previously reported that Musk is not being paid for his work with DOGE.

In February, Vice President JD Vance responded to Democrats’ complaints regarding Musk’s DOGE involvement.

The judge continued, explaining his “reasoning” for the ruling.

“If a president could escape Appointments Clause scrutiny by having advisers go beyond the traditional role of White House advisors who communicate the president’s priorities to agency heads and instead exercise significant authority throughout the federal government so as to bypass duly appointed officers, the Appointments Clause would be reduced to nothing more than a technical formality,” Chaung wrote.

“Under these circumstances, the evidence presently favors the conclusion that, contrary to defendants’ sweeping claim that Musk acted only as an advisor, Musk made the decisions to shutdown USAID’s headquarters and website even though he ‘lacked the authority to make that decision,’” Chuang continued.

“This record must be considered alongside the fact that Musk appears to have been involved in the shutdown of CFPB [Consumer Financial Protection Bureau] headquarters as well,” Chuang stressed in his opinion.

“And there is evidence that shows or strongly suggests that Musk and DOGE, despite their alleged advisory roles, have taken other unilateral actions without any apparent authorization from agency officials.”

In response, Musk ripped into the ruling by reposting an X post from conservative commentator Charlie Kirk. Kirk stated: “the only two clauses of the left’s constitution were ‘Thou shalt have open borders’ and ‘All American money will be sent abroad.’”

“Today’s decision is an important victory against Elon Musk and his DOGE attack on USAID, the United States’ government, and the Constitution,” said Norm Eisen, a CNN legal analyst and executive chair of the State Democracy Defenders Fund — who represented the plaintiffs.

“This case is a milestone in pushing back on Musk and DOGE’s illegality,” he continued.

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President Trump to hold first official cabinet meeting, DOGE latest, Hamas hostage release

US President Donald Trump will hold his first Cabinet meeting today since returning to office last month, in an effort to further his agenda with most of his nominees now confirmed by Congress. Billionaire supporter and advisor Elon Musk, tasked with overseeing the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), will be among those in attendance at the meeting.

NO MORE WAR: President Trump hints to end Ukraine War, slams DOGE haters | FULL REMARKS

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt slammed Democrats' hypocritical position ahead of DOGE's Social Security audit. Leavitt defended President Donald Trump and Elon Musk's objectives on "Hannity" Monday, pointing out that former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton championed rooting out waste, fraud and abuse of taxpayer dollars. A federal judge on Tuesday declined to block Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency from accessing government data and firing federal employees. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan declined to grant the plaintiffs' request to issue a temporary restraining order, citing what she said was their failure to demonstrate evidence of "irreparable harm" caused by DOGE's access. "Plaintiffs legitimately call into question what appears to be the unchecked authority of an unelected individual and an entity that was not created by Congress and over which it has no oversight," Chutkan, an Obama appointee, said Tuesday. "In these circumstances, it must be indisputable that this court acts within the bounds of its authority. Accordingly, the Court cannot issue a TRO, especially one as wide-ranging as Plaintiffs request, without clear evidence of imminent, irreparable harm to these Plaintiffs. The current record does not meet that standard." Russia and the U.S. agreed Tuesday to start working toward ending the war in Ukraine and improving their diplomatic and economic ties, the two countries’ top diplomats said after talks that reflected an extraordinary about-face in U.S. foreign policy under President Donald Trump. In an interview with The Associated Press after the meeting, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the two sides agreed broadly to pursue three goals: to restore staffing at their respective embassies in Washington and Moscow, to create a high-level team to support Ukraine peace talks and to explore closer relations and economic cooperation. He stressed, however, that the talks — which were attended by his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, and other senior Russian and U.S. officials — marked the beginning of a conversation, and more work needs to be done.

DOGE Cuts DEI Funding, Axes Over $370M In Education Grants

The US Department of Education building is seen in Washington, DC, February 13, 2025. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)
The US Department of Education building is seen in Washington, DC, February 13, 2025. (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

OAN Staff James Meyers
2:29 PM – Monday, February 17, 2025

In only two days, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cut a staggering $370 million in taxpayer funding that was being spent on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) at the Department of Education (DOE).

DOGE revealed in a post on their x account that they got rid of 70 DEI training grants within the department. 

According to the department run by Elon Musk, the grants totaled $373 million. 

One specific grant was funding training for teachers to “engage in ongoing learning and self-reflection to confront their own biases and racism, and develop asset-based anti-racist mindsets,” the cost-cutting department said.

DOGE has been revealing significant findings over the past few weeks, including the cancellation of multiple avenues of funding for DEI in education, including $9.7 million for UC Berkeley to develop “a cohort of Cambodian youth with enterprise driven skills.”

Additionally, DOGE announced the termination of another 89 DOE contracts that totaled $881 million. This number included over $100 million in DEI grants. 

Meanwhile, the Education Department has been cutting DEI practices in education as a whole, mandating all 50 state education departments last week to remove DEI policies within 14 days or else they will lose federal funding. 

The letter said the “overt and covert racial discrimination that has become widespread in this nation’s educational institutions” will no longer be tolerated.

“The law is clear: treating students differently on the basis of race to achieve nebulous goals such as diversity, racial balancing, social justice, or equity is illegal under controlling Supreme Court precedent,” the letter reads.

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Trump’s Treasury Secretary SHUTS DOWN Reporter Trying to Attack DOGE

The Biden government hired 80,000 new IRS agents to make sure YOU followed every one of their complicated tax laws. But when President Trump ordered DOGE to audit the government, politicians and the media squealed! That should speak volumes about what their true priorities are, Glenn says. Glenn and Pat review some of the latest pushback from the establishment, including how Democrats are whining about Elon Musk and how a judge tried to block even Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent from accessing Treasury data.

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