A federal judge says the USAID shutdown likely violated the Constitution

A federal judge determined that the Trump administration likely acted unconstitutionally by closing the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) without proper authority. Judge Theodore Chuang criticized the accelerated shutdown process, stating that it deprived Congress of its power to oversee such decisions, impacting employees and the public interest. Plaintiffs, comprising over two dozen impacted USAID employees, argued their rights were violated. USAID's closure, led by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, also led to the cancellation of foreign aid contracts, raising further legal and ethical concerns about executive authority.

the Court finds that Defendants' actions taken to shut down USAID on an accelerated basis likely violated the United States Constitution in multiple ways, and that these actions harmed not only Plaintiffs, but also the public interest.

the actions deprive the public's elected representatives in Congress of their constitutional authority to decide whether, when, and how to close down an agency created by Congress.

Read at www.npr.org