A judge has temporarily prevented President Donald Trump from putting 2,200 workers at the US Agency for International Development (USAID) on paid leave, just hours before it was scheduled.
Judge Carl Nichols granted a “limited” temporary restraining order after two unions filed a last-minute lawsuit to protect the agency. This order will hold until midnight on 14 February.
Trump contends that USAID, which manages foreign aid, represents a misuse of taxpayer funds and seeks to disband it. His plan involves furloughing nearly all of its 10,000 employees, sparing only 611.
About 500 staff members had already been placed on administrative leave, with another 2,200 set to join them starting from midnight on Friday (05:00 GMT).
The urgent lawsuit filed on Friday argued that the government was breaching the US Constitution and causing harm to the employees.
Judge Nichols agreed with the unions, stating that they would face “irreparable harm” if the court did not step in, whereas the government would not suffer any harm.
“All USAID employees currently on administrative leave shall be reinstated until that date, and shall be given complete access to email, payment, and security notification systems until that date, and no additional employees shall be placed on administrative leave before that date,” Nichols wrote.
The judge will also review a request to extend this pause at a hearing set for Wednesday. The future of the remaining staff’s employment remains uncertain as per the court order.
Amid these developments, officials began to remove and cover signs at USAID’s headquarters in Washington DC.
USAID is the largest global aid donor, allocating a significant portion of its budget to worldwide health initiatives. Two-thirds of its 10,000 staff are stationed abroad.
This agency is among several targeted by his administration in an effort to reduce federal spending in the US.
The Republican, who promised to restructure the government, has established a council called the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), headed by tech mogul Elon Musk, to cut the budget.
The decision by Judge Nichols followed an emergency petition from the American Foreign Service Association and American Federation of Government Employees, which represent the agency’s workers.
In the hearing, Judge Nichols, a Trump appointee from his first term, appeared unlikely to fulfill other demands from the lawsuit, such as reinstating grants and contracts or reopening USAID facilities.
The legal challenge maintains that the president is infringing on the US Constitution and federal laws by attempting to dismantle the agency.
The complaint states, “None of the actions to dismantle USAID were authorized by Congress.”
Furthermore, it emphasizes that under federal law, only Congress has the authority to legally dismantle the agency.
Representing the Trump administration, Justice Department official Brett Shumate informed the judge that the president believes there is widespread corruption and fraud within USAID.
