A federal judge has put the brakes on Donald Trump’s plan to gut the United States Agency for International Development workforce.
Washington, D.C.., District Judge Carl J. Nichols — who was appointed by Trump — granted a “limited” temporary restraining order Friday that blocks the Trump administration from placing roughly 2,200 USAID workers on administrative leave, hours before the administration was set to send them packing at midnight.
Unions representing nearly 2,000 USAID employees filed a lawsuit against Trump and administration officials Thursday night following an unprecedented attack against the global aid agency, which supports dozens of life-saving missions in more than 100 countries.
The administration intended to slash virtually all of USAID’s global staff to fewer than 300 people, according to a message to agency partners on Thursday. The administration then backtracked, with plans to leave roughly 600 workers, according to Department of Justice lawyers.
USAID plaintiffs accused administration officials of “unconstitutional and illegal actions” that “have systematically dismantled” the agency, creating a “humanitarian crisis” and imperiling national security while jeopardizing thousands of jobs.
The complaint — filed by Public Citizen Litigation Group and Democracy Forward on behalf of the American Foreign Service Association and American Federation of Government Employees — stresses that “not a single one” of the administration’s actions received congressional approval.
A memo on the agency’s website earlier this week noted that nearly the entire USAID workforce would be put on “administrative leave” by the end of the week, with only a small number of “designated personnel responsible for mission-critical functions, core leadership and specially designated programs” who would be exempt.
USAID workers abroad, which account for roughly two-thirds of the agency’s staff, will “be offered optional and fully reimbursed return travel to the United States within 30 days,” though “personnel are not required to accept Agency-sponsored travel or to return to the United States within any specific deadline.”
This is a developing story
