A federal judge on Friday ordered a temporary block on plans by the Trump administration to put 2,200 employees of the U.S. Agency for International Development on leave.
U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee, also agreed to block an order that would have given just 30 days for the thousands of overseas USAID workers the administration wanted to place on abrupt administrative leave to move their families back to the U.S. at the government’s expense.
Both actions by the administration would have exposed the workers and their families to unnecessary risk and expense, according to the judge.
This comes as President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, who leads the Department of Government Efficiency, seek to dismantle the agency.
TOP DEM STRATEGISTS WARN USAID FUNDING FIGHT IS A ‘TRAP’ FOR THE PARTY
Demonstrators and lawmakers rally against President Donald Trump and his ally Elon Musk as they disrupt the federal government, including dismantling the U.S. Agency for International Development on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Nichols noted that staffers living overseas have said the administration had cut some workers off from government emails and other communication systems required to reach the U.S. government in case of a health or safety emergency.
USAID contractors in various regions, including the Middle East, even reported that “panic button” apps had been removed from their phones or disabled when the administration abruptly placed them on leave.
“Administrative leave in Syria is not the same as administrative leave in Bethesda,” the judge said.
An employee of U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) who wished to remain anonymous protests outside the USAID headquarters on February 3, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Getty Images)
The judge also pointed to workers stating difficulties that would arise from the 30-day timeline to return to the U.S., including that they had no home to return to in…
