The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) has sued the Trump administration for cutting off funds for its democracy building overseas — the latest suit from a target of Elon Musk.
The lawsuit states the Treasury Department has locked out the endowment from $167 million in congressionally appropriated funds for over a month, claiming it unconstitutionally usurps Congress’s power of the purse.
“For the last month, the Executive Branch has denied the Endowment access to its congressionally appropriated funds—something that has never occurred before in the Endowment’s forty-two-year existence,” the lawsuit states.
“As a result of the Executive’s unlawful impoundment of the funds that Congress appropriated for the Endowment, the Endowment is experiencing a devastating cash flow crisis that jeopardizes its ability to fulfill its mission and its very existence, as well as that of its core institutes and grantees,” the complaint reads.
The suit, filed in federal court in Washington, is the latest pushback to the Trump administration’s targeting of various departments and programs focused on overseas work.
The NED funds both the National Democratic Institute and the International Republican Institute — organizations affiliated with each political party but whose primary mission is to promote democracy and political freedom abroad.
Neither institute works in the U.S., and they provide grant funding for projects in over 100 countries.
Musk, the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has repeatedly signaled out the group, claiming in social media posts that it is “RIFE with CORRUPTION”
“NED is a SCAM,” Musk wrote in another post last month.
Musk has made similar claims about the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The Trump administration subsequently blocked funding for numerous programs, ranging from those working on public health issues abroad to battling famine to economic and educational development designed to stem migratory flows.
The new lawsuit alleges NED has been unable to access funds since two days after Trump’s inauguration. The group says it has attempted for weeks to request a drawdown of roughly $97 million from its account, and the administration has failed to obligate another $72 million Congress appropriated in its latest funding bill.
The Hill has reached out to the Treasury Department for comment.
NED has already had to furlough 62 percent of its staff and plans to furlough 13 percent more. They’ve also had to suspend 1,300 grant programs worldwide.
“The Endowment is also losing skills in critical areas, including language, regional expertise, and technical fields,” the suit states, noting NED has assembled a team that “collectively speaks more than 45 languages.”
“Losing this expertise means losing access, understanding, and key relationships that have been developed over decades,” the suit continues.
The endowment is represented by lawyer Donald Verrilli, who served as solicitor general during the Obama administration.
Though the lawsuit does not name Musk or the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the case comes amid the backdrop of a flurry of litigation challenging the group’s efforts to rapidly slash aspects of federal spending.
Some of those challenges have found success in court, including on Wednesday, when the Supreme Court in a 5-4 emergency decision declined the Trump administration’s request to lift a judge’s order requiring officials to release nearly $2 billion in foreign aid payments.
