Judge Declines to Block Firing of US Agency for African Development Head

A federal judge on March 11 declined to temporarily block Pete Marocco, acting head of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), from firing the president of the U.S. African Development Foundation (USADF) and being named its board chair. Marocco was designated acting head of USAID by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The ruling stems from a March 6 suit brought by USADF’s former president, Ward Brehm, against Marocco, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) head Amy Gleason, and Director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office Sergio Gor. Brehm alleged that DOGE employees had approached USADF in late February with plans to reduce the agency’s scope as outlined in President Donald’s Trump Feb. 19 executive order on “the reduction of the federal bureaucracy,” and threatened to fire its board members when the agency’s employees refused to cooperate. At that time, Brehm was chairman of USADF’s board....