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A small U.S. federal agency that invests in African small businesses went to court Tuesday to fight for control over its operations and existence.
The U.S. African Development Foundation last week tried to keep staff from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency from entering their offices in Washington. DOGE staff managed to gain entry after returning with U.S. Marshals.
Ward Brehm, the president of USADF, last week sued the Trump administration, saying in a complaint that the attempted takeover was illegal and that neither President Donald Trump nor DOGE had the authority to shut down its operations or replace its board members and president.
An attorney for Brehem told U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon that the administration flouted the law when it rushed to remove Brehm and other board members. A Justice Department attorney argued that Trump has the power to unilaterally appoint an acting chairman of the board provided that it is followed up with a nomination to the Senate.
Leon told the lawyers that he was leaning toward denying Brehem’s request for a temporary restraining order.
Trump last month in an executive order targeted USADF and three other agencies for closure in an effort to deliver on campaign promises to shrink the size of the federal government. The independent agency was created in 1980 by Congress and is controlled by board members, who must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
A primary question in the case is whether the Trump administration has the legal authority to remove the independent board members. Presidents are restricted from firing these members without cause, thanks to a nearly 90-year-old Supreme Court decision known as Humphrey’s Executer, which has been a backstop for advocates in court against the Trump administrations’ firings. More recent Supreme Court decisions have expanded the president’s removal power and legal experts say the high court’s conservative majority may be inclined to overturn that precedent.
In a filing on Monday, attorneys for the government claimed the Trump administration last month removed USADF’s board members by emails from the White House. USDAF challenged that account, saying that just one board member, Brehm, received a removal email.
The remaining board members made Brehm president on March 3. The previous USADF president resigned before the agency was targeted for elimination.
Attorneys for the Trump administration have argued that USADF’s board has, “done everything possible to avoid complying with the President’s clear directives,” and that “the President must be able to designate acting officials to fulfill his duty to enforce the laws.”
Congress in 2023 allocated $46 million to USADF to invest in relatively small agricultural projects and energy infrastructure projects among other economic development initiatives in 22 African countries. The agency employs around 50 people.
In court filings, USADF describes staff from DOGE demanding access to their systems, which staff denied citing privacy and security requirements. They also said DOGE emailed USADF’s staff last month announcing that Pete Marocco, the deputy administrator of USAID who has overseen its dismantling, would chair USADF’s board.
Marocco and some of the same DOGE staff have succeeded in shuttering another independent agency, the Inter-American Foundation. On Feb. 28, a White House official told IAF staff that Marocco would chair the agency’s board, according to a letter sent to Congress by Eddy Arriola, the chair of IAF’s board.
The same day, Marocco held an emergency board meeting outside of IAF’s offices because he was not able to gain entry to the building. In notes entered into the Federal Register, Marocco said he designated himself the acting CEO and president of IAF, seemingly firing the sitting president.
Since, IAF’s grants and contracts have been cancelled and most of its 37 staff members have been laid off. In 2024, IAF oversaw almost $350 million in investments in Latin American and the Caribbean, with a little more than half of that coming from outside funds, meaning from countries or private funders.
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Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and non-profits receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.
