A Washington, D.C., judge on Tuesday threw out a lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump’s control of the African Development Foundation, a small federal agency that locked its doors to prevent Trump’s staff from entering and had to be physically taken over by U.S. Marshals.
The suit was brought by Ward Brehm, a former member of the agency’s board of directors, which is appointed by the president. On February 24, the White House notified Brehm that he was fired. But Brehm later insisted he was not just on the board, but had become president of the agency — not Pete Marocco, the architect of the USAID demolition, who Trump also named as president of the similar African aid group.
Senior Judge Richard J. Leon ruled that Brehm “never lawfully held the position, and the Court is not at liberty to unilaterally install him as president. The Court therefore finds that summary judgment is warranted for the defendants.”
“The ‘President may remove anyone he appoints,’ unless Congress ‘wishes to restrict the President’s removal power,’ which it ‘must make clear in a statute,’” he wrote, citing precedent.
The White House removed all five board members on the same day, but ADF staff would not share contact info for the board members with Trump staff, and notifications to members besides Brehm were sent to invalid email addresses.
On February 28, the White House wrote to the African Development Foundation’s Chief Financial Officer, Mathieu Zahiu, that the agency had become “Board-less” and Trump had temporarily appointed Marocco as acting chair.
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Author: Dillon B
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