A federal judge has temporarily blocked former President Donald Trump’s move to place 2,200 employees of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) on paid leave, just hours before it was set to take effect.
Judge Carl Nichols issued a “very limited” temporary restraining order in response to a lawsuit filed by unions opposing the mass leave directive, which was scheduled to begin at midnight on Friday.
USAID, the primary US government agency responsible for international development, has a workforce of approximately 10,000 people, with two-thirds stationed overseas. The status of the remaining employees remains uncertain.
Under Trump’s plan, only 611 staff members would have continued working at the agency. The ruling came amid reports that officials had already started removing and covering USAID signage at its headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Trump has repeatedly criticized USAID, arguing that it is not a justifiable use of taxpayer money. The agency is one of several federal institutions his administration has sought to downsize in an effort to reduce government spending.
As part of his broader campaign promise to overhaul federal operations, Trump established the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), an advisory body led by tech billionaire Elon Musk, to spearhead budget cuts across various agencies.
Friday's ruling by Judge Nichols came in response to an emergency petition by the American Foreign Service Association and American Federation of Government Employees - two unions representing employees of the agency.
Judge Nichols, who was nominated by Trump during his first term, said the written order would be issued later and go into more detail.
The organisations who sued told the BBC they were waiting for the text of the court order to find out how all employees at USAID would be affected.
But for now, it appeared that the more than 2,000 direct hires at the agency who are part of the unions would be safe, according to Lauren Bateman an attorney at Public Citizen, an advocacy group that filed the lawsuit.
About 500 USAID staff have already been placed on leave by the Trump administration.
During the hearing, the judge did not seem likely to grant other requests as part of the lawsuit, including to restore grants and contracts or reopen USAID buildings.
The legal action argued that the president was violating the US Constitution and federal law by attempting to dismantle the agency.
"Not a single one of defendants' actions to dismantle USAID were taken pursuant to congressional authorization," it said.
"And pursuant to federal statute, Congress is the only entity that may lawfully dismantle the agency."
Representing the Trump administration, justice department official Brett Shumate told the judge that the president "has decided there is corruption and fraud at USAID".
Source: BBC
BDST: 1020 HRS, FEB 08, 2025
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