A federal judge has blocked the Department of Government Efficiency's effort to gut the U.S. Agency for International Development, Fox News reported. U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang ordered all employees reinstated, even those on administrative leave in another pusbhak against President Donald Trump's agenda. 

DOGE was created to cut the size of the government. Republicans believe organizations like USAID are wasteful and that DOGE has a right to slash whatever is redundant or useless in the federal budget.

Chuang, an Obama appointee, didn't see it that way. On Tuesday, the judge wrote that DOGE's move "shut down USAID on an accelerated basis, including its apparent decision to permanently close USAID headquarters without the approval of a duly appointed USAID officer, likely violated the United States Constitution in multiple ways."

The judge also claimed the cuts "not only harmed the plaintiffs, but also the public interest, because they deprived 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." This case promises to be one of several that will test the court's power to stop Trump.

More Roadblocks

It's clear that the mission of DOGE is just too challenging for Democrats, who rely on government spending to entice voters to continue to pull the lever for them. However, they really have focused their ire on DOGE's leader, Tesla billionaire Elon Musk.

Many have questioned the legality of allowing Musk to operate in the government as an adviser to Trump. Chuang laid the groundwork for requiring Senate confirmation for Musk under the Appointments Clause of the Constitution.

In the meantime, DOGE cannot make any more cuts to USAID. In a separate decision, U.S. District Court Judge Amir Ali previously ruled that the Trump administration must pay off contractors for work already completed while admonishing it for "unlawfully impounding" almost $2 billion in aid.

Ali demanded the Trump administration pay $1.9 billion in foreign aid that was already promised by a deadline of Feb. 27. The judge claimed that withholding payments due overstepped the powers of the executive branch.

"Here, the executive has unilaterally deemed that funds Congress appropriated for foreign aid will not be spent. The executive not only claims his constitutional authority to determine how to spend appropriated funds, but usurps Congress’ exclusive authority to dictate whether the funds should be spent in the first place," Ali said.

Wasteful Spending

These judges have cut DOGE off at the knees through these decisions despite all of the apparent waste that's already been uncovered. Just after DOGE's investigation effort was underway, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt outlined some of the most egregious expenditures.

A video of her statement was shared to X, formerly Twitter, by Libs of TikTok last month. Leavitt said there were some "insane priorities" the agency used taxpayer dollars to fund.

"$1.5 million to advance DEI in Serbia's workplaces; $70,000 for production of a DEI musical in Ireland; $47,000 for a transgender opera in Colombia; $32,000 for a transgender comic book in Peru. I don't know about you, but as an American taxpayer, I don't want my dollars going toward this crap..." Leavitt said.

Press Secretary details some of the insane spending from USAID over the past few years:

- $1.5 million for DEI in Serbia
- $70,000 for a DEI musical in Ireland
- $47,000 for a transgender opera in Colombia
- $32,000 for a transgender comic book in Peru pic.twitter.com/F6oskM4QSK

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) February 3, 2025