Washington DC - A judge ruled that Elon Musk's so-called Department of Government Efficiency likely violated the US Constitution when it gutted USAID.

District Judge Theodore Chuang ruled that Musk and DOGE's slashing of the agency may be unconstitutional "in multiple ways" and ordered that a number of systems be reinstated.

"The Court finds that Defendants' actions taken to 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 way," the ruling reads.

"These actions harmed not only 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."

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Chuang ordered DOGE to reinstate access to all electronic systems for USAID employees, including email and payment clients.

In addition, he ruled that DOGE and Musk cannot take any further action without the authorization of a USAID official.

His ruling rejected an argument made by the Trump administration that Musk is not DOGE's administrator, in a move that could have serious implications for both the agency and Musk himself.

The constitution requires that any presidential appointee be approved by the Senate unless they take the role of an "inferior officer."

Though the nature of Musk's role in the administration is still unclear, he has been named a "special government employee" acting as "senior advisor" to the president.

Chuang's ruling does little to help reinstate the 97% of USAID's workforce that was fired by Musk.