A win's a win — and even the small ones are worth noting. As such, we note that the Trump administration has secured a win — albeit a temporary one (for now) — in the battle over its ability to DOGE-ify USAID, with the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals issuing an administrative stay of a Maryland District Court judge's outlandish injunction. 

When last we looked in on the Maryland case involving USAID/DOGE, we were left shaking our heads in wonder at the extraordinary scope of U.S. District Court Judge Theodore Chuang's preliminary injunction. 

As Bob Hoge reported following Chuang's issuance of his order:

The onslaught continued Tuesday as yet another judge decided he was the boss and told Trump that their dismantling of the left-wing agency USAID was likely unconstitutional:

A federal judge in Maryland has ruled that the Trump administration’s efforts to shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) were likely unconstitutional, and has ordered it to ultimately reinstate the agency’s lawful functions.

On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang concluded DOGE’s efforts "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 ways."

And, as Bob rightly noted, it didn't end there. 

The judge went a lot further than that though, ordering the administration to undo all the progress that that's been achieved:

In his ruling, Chuang, a 2014 Obama bench appointee, also ordered immediate restoration of email and computer access to all USAID employees, including those placed on administrative leave.

DOGE is now prohibited from any further cuts to USAID.

The lawsuit was filed by current and former agency employees and contractors.

READ MORE: Déjà vu All Over Again: ANOTHER Federal Judge Tries to Thwart Trump Agenda, Goes to Bat for USAID

But...it didn't even end there. Judge Chuang subsequently issued an order clarifying his prior order and enjoining Jeremy Lewin, the Deputy Administrator and COO of USAID, pursuant to authority delegated to him by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, from just about any activity related to that delegation. 

🚨🚨🚨BREAKING: Trump Administration filed Motion to Stay ⬇️outrageous order. Opening Paragraph sets stage perfectly! Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals is taking this very seriously, having ordered Plaintiffs to file response by Monday 10 a.m. 1/ https://t.co/wD1r3iynMH pic.twitter.com/PA5Zj7MQoF

— Margot Cleveland (@ProfMJCleveland) March 23, 2025

The DOGE defendants appealed Chuang's orders to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals and sought an emergency stay pending appeal, as well as an administrative stay. As noted above, the Fourth Circuit has now issued an order granting the government's motion for administrative stay through the end of the day Thursday. 

🚨🚨🚨BREAKING! 4th Circuit Administratively Stays' lower court order re Elon Musk, DOGE, AND Deputy Administration of USAID. 1/ pic.twitter.com/6LwLBknkmv

— Margot Cleveland (@ProfMJCleveland) March 25, 2025

This affords the appellate court (and the parties) a momentary breather while the court determines whether to issue an emergency stay while the matter works its way through the appeals process on the merits.  

We will, of course, continue to follow this case and provide additional updates as they become available. 

Editor's Note: Unelected federal judges are hijacking President Trump's agenda and insulting the will of the people

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