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Legal legislators and experts are warning that the Trump Administration’s efforts to close the Government’s Foreign Assistance Agency is unconstitutional and is likely to face challenges in court.
During the weekend, agents of the so -called Government Efficiency Department (DOGE) entered the installation of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Staff Began closing out of the internal systems On Sunday and they were told not to enter the headquarters of the Ronald Reagan building on Monday.
Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and Spacex, who runs DOGE, said that his team brought a “wooden chip” to USAID over the weekend. He has been against USAID for days on his X social network platform and has collected accusations of corruption against the independent agency, which has provided humanitarian and development assistance in countries around the world for more than 60 years.
“We do not have a fourth branch of government called Elon Musk, and this will be clear,” said representative Jamie Raskin (D-MD.) In a press conference with other democratic legislators outside the USAID headquarters. “This illegal, unconstitutional interference with the power of Congress threatens lives worldwide.”
During an event organized in X early Monday morning, Musk said that USAID is a “worm ball” that is “out of repair” and the president agreed to close. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday he had assumed as acting administrator of the USAID in the midst of the speculation that Trump may try to merge the naked agency to the State Department.
But while Trump can make changes on the margins, as it has a ban on diversity, capital and inclusion initiatives throughout the federal government, legislators and legal experts argue that neither the president nor his agents do not. They can unilaterally eliminate with the agency.
“The Musk, and perhaps the Congress, must admit that this is not the same as the corporate taking over another business. As Usaid is an independent agency, only an act of congress can abolish it. Even closing the agency, but just leaving the books should unleash legal challenges, “said James Desimone, a civilian lawyer and civil rights lawyer in the V. James Desimone law.
Critics have said that since President John F. Kennedy created USAID through an executive order in 1961, President Trump may end him in executive order. But this is not the full story.
Congress later passed a law, the Act of Reform and Restructuring of Foreign Affairs of 1998Codify USAID as an independent agency.
Desimone also said that career civil service employees are not the same as political nominees, which serve the pleasure of the President and may be asked to give up or to be fired at any time.
“They have processes and legal protections designed to avoid these illicit political retaliation,” said Desimone. “And you can not only put thousands of these people on leave without following the federal regulations and notify. How long would they be on permission? The long -term paid leave is the same as the illegal completion.
Even personal service contractors, employees by USAID, but do not enjoy the legal protections of direct contracts, have incorporated their contracts. An employee Usaid told The Hill that his contract requires 15 days of notification and a reason to terminate the contract.
Trump argued that only an act of congressional action could dismantle Usaid.
“I don’t think so. Not when it comes to fraud. If there is fraud. These people are lunatic. And, if it is fraud, you would not have an act of congress and I’m not sure you would, “said Trump.
Although Usaid is not a perfect organization, experts told The Hill that the attacks charged by Musk and Trump against the agency were inaccurate.
“What I will say is that it is not that the U.S. assistance regime is perfect. I really think it claims that it is very corrupt that is wrong, there are many tests that point to very low corruption rates in the assistance of the assistance United States, but there are definitely things that could be done more efficiently, “said Charles Kenny, a leading companion at the center for global development.
Other two center for Global Development Fellows, Justin Sandefur and Rachel Bonnifield, also discussed one of Musk’s claims that only 10 percent of the USAID money reaches its planned beneficiaries.
“This is a wild and misleading interpretation of a different statistics, that 10 percent of the USAID payments are made directly in the organizations of the world in developing. The remaining 90 percent includes all the goods and services that Usaid, companies American-based organizations and organizations deliver in kind, from HIV drugs to emergency food aid, malaria bed networks and acute malnutrition treatment, “The Fellows said in his analysis.
“And it is absolutely crucial to eliminate this false statement because it is used as part of the pretext for (illegally) dissolving usaid in its entirety.”
