March 8, 2025 Story by: Editor
A federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from shutting down a small federal agency that promotes investment in African nations.
U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon in Washington issued the order just hours after a lawsuit was filed by Ward Brehm, the president and CEO of the U.S. African Development Foundation (USADF).
According to Brehm’s complaint, he instructed his staff on Wednesday to prevent entry to employees from billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and Pete Marocco, the deputy administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
Brehm argued in the lawsuit that DOGE and the Trump administration lacked the authority to dismantle the agency, as it was established by Congress.
Judge Leon, who was appointed by Republican President George W. Bush, issued an order preventing Brehm’s removal and barring DOGE from appointing new board members for the next few days.
Brehm also claimed that following President Donald Trump’s February 19 executive order aimed at reducing the size of the federal government, DOGE personnel attempted to gain access to the agency’s computer systems.
“When USADF learned that DOGE was there to kill the agency, USADF staff refused DOGE access to cancel all grants and contracts,” the complaint stated.
White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly responded, saying, “Entitled, rogue bureaucrats have no authority to defy executive orders by the President of the United States or physically bar his representatives from entering the agencies they run.”
The State Department did not immediately provide a comment on the matter.
The Trump administration had tasked DOGE, under Musk’s leadership, with identifying and eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse in federal agencies as part of broader efforts to reduce the national debt. Source: Yahoo News
