A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump’s controversial effort to strip down a U.S. agency that supports small businesses in Africa, ruling the administration acted within its legal bounds.
The case centered on Trump’s decision to remove board members from the U.S. African Development Foundation (USADF) and dramatically reduce the agency’s funding and staffing. On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ruled that Trump had the authority to terminate the board members and scale the agency down to its legally mandated minimum.
Established in 1980 as an independent body, USADF requires Senate confirmation for board appointments. In 2023, Congress reportedly designated $46 million to fund the foundation’s work across 22 African nations, focusing on agriculture, clean energy, and local economic development.
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But on February 19, Trump issued an executive order instructing that USADF, along with the U.S. Institute of Peace, the Inter-American Foundation, and the Presidio Trust, be reduced to the smallest operational footprint allowed by law. At the time, USADF had five of its seven board seats filled.
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Shortly afterward, former board chair Ward Brehm was informed of his termination via a phone call, and emails were sent to the remaining board members notifying them of their removal. However, those emails never reached their intended recipients due to clerical errors with the addresses.
Unaware of their dismissal, the four board members held a meeting in March and passed a resolution reappointing Brehm as president of the board. Meanwhile, the Trump administration had already named Pete Marocco as the sole remaining member and board chair. This conflicting leadership led to Brehm filing a lawsuit on March 6.
In his decision, Judge Leon ruled that despite the mishandled notifications, the board members’ terminations were effective as of February. Therefore, he concluded, they lacked the legal standing to reinstall Brehm as president.
“But in our parallel case, Rural Development Innovations v. Marocco, a grantee and two USADF employees have also challenged Marocco’s unlawful appointment,” said Brehm’s attorney, Bradley Girard of Democracy Forward. “We are hopeful that the Court will reject the defendants’ attempt to ignore the constitutional and statutory requirements for appointing board members to federal agencies.”
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That related case remains under consideration. It challenges Marocco’s appointment on the grounds that he was never confirmed by the Senate and alleges the administration’s drastic cuts to the agency overstepped congressional authority.
Judge Leon’s ruling in Brehm’s case did not address whether Marocco’s installation as chair was legally permissible on a temporary basis.
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