Twenty-six former and current USAID employees have filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk, stating the billionaire has decimated the agency without the authority to do so.
“The scope and reach of his executive authority appears unprecedented in U.S. history,” states the initial complaint, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland late last week. “But Defendant Musk has not been nominated by President Trump and confirmed by the U.S. Senate, as Article II of the United States Constitution requires.”
The lawsuit alleges that Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE — the budget-cutting initiative that he leads — have subverted Congress by acting without a formal appointment or congressional nomination, along with operating “beyond the bounds of any proper executive power.”
About the authors
Elissa Miolene
Elissa Miolene reports on USAID and the U.S. government at Devex. She previously covered education at The San Jose Mercury News, and has written for outlets like The Wall Street Journal, San Francisco Chronicle, Washingtonian magazine, among others. Before shifting to journalism, Elissa led communications for humanitarian agencies in the United States, East Africa, and South Asia.
Adva Saldinger@AdvaSal
Adva Saldinger is a Senior Reporter at Devex where she covers development finance, as well as U.S. foreign aid policy. Adva explores the role the private sector and private capital play in development and authors the weekly Devex Invested newsletter bringing the latest news on the role of business and finance in addressing global challenges. A journalist with more than 10 years of experience, she has worked at several newspapers in the U.S. and lived in both Ghana and South Africa.
