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A senior official at Elon Musks Department of Government Efficiency is taking a leadership role at the U.S. Agency for International Development, giving DOGE direct authority over an agency that it has worked to dismantle, according to an email obtained by The Associated Press. Pete Marocco, a Trump administration political appointee who was serving as deputy head of USAID, disclosed the change in the email to State Department staff. It comes after Marocco and DOGE oversaw the gutting of 83% of USAID contracts, shifting the remaining programs under the State Department. Marocco said in his email that he will serve as the State Department’s head of foreign assistance. Marocco wrote that Secretary of State Marco Rubio will effective immediately designate Jeremy Lewin as deputy administrator for policy and programs at USAID and as chief operating officer. Lewin is a DOGE official who has worked with Musk’s government-cutting efforts at USAID and other federal agencies. Rubio also designated Kenneth Jackson as administrator for management and resources who will also serve as the agencys chief financial officer. President Donald Trump also appointed Jackson as acting president of the U.S. Institute for Peace, a government think tank meant to promote conflict resolution. The email outlining the DOGE team member’s appointment came the same day a federal judge ruled that Musk and DOGE appeared to have no constitutional authority for their two-month effort helping the Trump administration shut down State and USAID foreign assistance funding, fire staffers and terminate humanitarian and development contracts. U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang in Maryland, in a ruling Tuesday, indefinitely blocked DOGE from making further cuts to the agency. The ruling came in a lawsuit filed by USAID employees and contractors, who argued that Musk and DOGE are wielding power that the Constitution reserves only for those who win elections or are confirmed by the Senate. Their lawyers said the ruling effectively halts or reverses many of the steps taken to dismantle the agency. Matt Brown and Ellen Knickmeyer, Associated Press
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E-Commerce
MANDAN, N.D. (AP) A North Dakota jury on Wednesday found Greenpeace liable for defamation and other claims brought by a pipeline company in connection with protests against the Dakota Access oil pipeline. The nine-person jury awarded Dallas-based Energy Transfer and its subsidiary Dakota Access hundreds of millions of dollars in damages. The lawsuit had accused Netherlands-based Greenpeace International, Greenpeace USA, and funding arm Greenpeace Fund Inc. of defamation, trespass, nuisance, civil conspiracy, and other acts. When asked if Greenpeace plans to appeal, Senior Legal Adviser Deepa Padmanabha said, We know that this fight is not over” and said the organization’s work is never going stop. Thats the really important message today, and were just walking out and were going to get together and figure out what our next steps are, Padmanabha said. The organization said it plans to appeal the decision. Energy Transfer called the verdict a win for residents of Mandan, North Dakota, and across the state. While we are pleased that Greenpeace has been held accountable for their actions against us, this win is really for the people of Mandan and throughout North Dakota who had to live through the daily harassment and disruptions caused by the protesters who were funded and trained by Greenpeace, the company said in a statement to The Associated Press. The company, who previously said the lawsuit was about Greenpeace not following the law and not free speech, also called the verdict a win for Americans who understand the difference between the right to free speech and breaking the law. The case reaches back to protests in 2016 and 2017 against the Dakota Access oil pipeline and its Missouri River crossing upstream of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribes reservation. For years the tribe has opposed the line as a risk to its water supply. The multistate pipeline has been transporting oil since mid-2017. Plaintiffs attorney Trey Cox has said Greenpeace carried out a scheme to stop the pipelines construction. During opening statements, he alleged Greenpeace paid outsiders to come into the area and protest, sent blockade supplies, organized or led protester trainings, and made untrue statements about the project to stop it. Attorneys for the Greenpeace entities said there is no evidence to the claims, that Greenpeace employees had little or no involvement in the protests and the organizations had nothing to do with Energy Transfers delays in construction or refinancing. Greenpeace representatives have said the lawsuit is a critical test of First Amendment free speech and protest rights and could threaten the organizations future. Jack Dura, Associated Press
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E-Commerce
Boeing Chief Financial Officer Brian West said on Wednesday the company is concerned about President Donald Trump’s tariffs potentially constraining the availability of parts from its suppliers, although he said the U.S. planemaker has enough inventory for now. West, who was speaking at a Bank of America industrials conference, also said the company expected to take a one-time hit of $150 million to its first-quarter profit. The company’s balance sheet has suffered from low deliveries of commercial jets and cost overruns on fixed-price contracts for its defense and space division. Boeing’s cash flow could improve in the first quarter by “hundreds of millions” of dollars, he said. The company’s share price rose 6% after West’s comments. Tariffs will not likely dampen demand for the company’s jetliners, he said. Boeing has an order backlog of over 5,000 planes, most of which are 737s. Deliveries of the single-aisle jet in March should match February, when it delivered 31 MAX jets plus one P-8 Poseidon for the U.S. Navy, he said. Through March 18, the company has delivered 13 737s, according to a Barclays note. The company continues to make progress stabilizing 737 and 787 Dreamliner production, both of which have been dogged by quality and supply chain problems, and remains on track to increase monthly output this year of the MAX from the mid-20s now to 38 planes and the Dreamliner from five to seven jets per month, West told investors. Deliveries of its KC-46 tanker military aircraft were recently halted by the U.S. Air Force after cracks were discovered in parts of the wings on two aircraft awaiting delivery. West said Boeing is making progress on resolving the problem, deliveries for the year should not be affected and the halt will not result in a charge against its profit. Boeing will not be significantly affected this year by a fire at a SPS Technologies plant, which makes 10% to 15% of fasteners for the aerospace industry, he said, adding that the company is assessing the impact on its suppliers. The company is trying to sort out how to prevent longer-term constraints on the fasteners supply, he added. In the past two weeks, Boeing moved into the next stage of flight testing for its 777X, which resumed in January following a five-month pause, he said. The company has said it expects to begin deliveries of the long-delayed 777-9 next year, followed by the smaller 777-8 and a freighter version later in the decade. Developing a new airplane is “a ways off,” West said. Boeing is shopping two subsidiaries – its Jeppesen navigation unit and drone company Insitu. However, Boeing’s divestment strategy is focused on pruning, not restructuring the company, he said. It does not plan to sell Wisk Aero, which is developing autonomous air taxis, he said. Technology being pioneered by Wisk will be key to the future of autonomous flight and valuable to the rest of Boeing’s business, he added. “It’s small, it’s important, and we’re staying with it.” Dan Catchpole and Shivansh Tiwary, Reuters
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E-Commerce
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