A worker removes the American agency for an international development symbol at his headquarters on 7 February 2025 at Washington, DC.
Kayla Bartkovski | Getty images
On Friday, a federal judge said that he would temporarily stop the Trump administration’s plan to keep thousands of workers for international development on administrative leave in the US agency.
Around 2,200 USAID employees were placed on leave on ET at 11:59 pm on Friday night. Donald TrumpEfforts to close independent government agency.
Five hundred USAID workers are already on administrative leave, a lawyer of the US Department of Justice said in the court.
Judge Carl Nichols, Judge of Trump’s appointment, ruled after hearing the arguments from the Trump administration and two groups representing federal workers in the US District Court in Washington, DC
The group of workers, the American Foreign Service Association and the American Federation of Government Employees, asked Nicols to order the Trump Administration to “stop action immediately to shut down the operation of USAIDs.”
He argued to file a court earlier on Friday that USAID is suffering from “unconstitutional and illegal attacks attack, left its workers, contractors, grants and beneficiaries in the rubble and left in a global humanitarian crisis in Wake. “
The Trump administration has “deliberately destroyed the infrastructure of USAID” and “prepared for a close final killing blow,” he wrote.
Nichols said on Friday afternoon that he would enter “very limited” temporary prevention orders before midnight directed on USAID workers with less than 2,200 risk.
The judge said that he has yet to decide whether his decision would cancel the Leave-Leave order for 500 employees of the Trump administration, who have already received it.
During the hearing, Nicoles questioned the DOJ Attorney Brett Shumet as to why the Trump administration needs to leave 2,200 USAID workers when leaving so soon.
“What is the urgency of this?” The judge asked.
“The President has decided that there is corruption and fraud in the USAID,” Shumet replied.
USAID was founded in 1961 President John F. The Foreign Assistance Act was passed after the passage of the Foreign Assistance Act. It adminues foreign aid and operates various other field missions worldwide.
In recent years, foreign aid includes about 1% of the federal budget and less than 0.33% of GDP, according to A. Brookings Institution Report from September.
But USAID has yet become a major goal of Trump and Elon MuskWho has accused the agency of being a unaccounted magnet for fraud and corruption.
“At the corruption level which is rarely seen before. Close it!” Trump wrote On Friday morning on truth social.
Musk, which is leading a widespread effort to reduce the size of the government through the so -called government efficiency of the White House, or Dogi, has taken credit for abolishing USAID.
Musk wrote on his social media platform X, “We spent weekends in feeding USAID in a wood chip.”
