One of the Smallest U.S. Agencies Sues to Block DOGE From Shutting it Down

A federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration from ousting the head of the U.S. African Development Foundation (USADF), one of the smallest agencies in the federal government, who filed a lawsuit Thursday to block Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from shutting the agency down.

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon, a George W. Bush appointee, issued the administrative stay while noting there were “significant” statutory and constitutional issues involved in the lawsuit. As part of the stay, which will remain in place until March 11, the judge also ordered the Trump administration could not attempt to install a State Department official to lead USADF.

The lawsuit came as USADF employees were preventing DOGE staffers from unlawfully entering the agency’s headquarters. In one of his recent executive orders, President Donald Trump called for USADF to be eliminated “to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law.”

Ward Brehm, the president of USADF’s board of directors, is also challenging DOGE’s attempts to fire him as president. Represented by Democracy Forward, he alleged that Musk and the Trump administration’s efforts violate the Constitution and federal law.

The lawsuit alleges DOGE staffers first gained access to USADF headquarters under the false pretenses of updating the agency’s computer systems. After USADF learned DOGE instead intended to shut down the agency, it cut Musk’s agency access to its headquarters.

“DOGE employees began threatening members of the Board—telling them that unless they carried out DOGE’s plans to strip USADF to its core, the Board would be fired,” the lawsuit reads.

Congress established the USADF through the 1980 African Development Foundation Act, charging it with supporting African-led initiatives meant to alleviate economic and social problems in marginalized communities across the continent. The law states that the ADF “shall have perpetual succession unless dissolved by an Act of Congress.”

The USADF’s board of directors is composed of seven members, all of whom are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. The president may select a board member to serve as chair, but only the board can appoint a president.

The Trump administration in recent days has attempted to install Pete Marocco, who has been charged with dismantling U.S. foreign aid, as the USADF’s sole board member without the consent of the Senate, the lawsuit alleges.

“Defendants have made clear their intentions: ignore statutory requirements, pretend that leadership of the agency does not exist, and shutter USADF,” it continues.

DOGE has used very similar methods to effectively eliminate USADF’s sister agency, the Inter-American Foundation (IAF), reducing its staff to just one active employee. 

Musk’s assault on the USADF and the IAF is part of a much larger effort within the Trump administration to slash U.S. humanitarian programs worldwide.