A federal judge in Washington, D.C., has issued a temporary restraining order blocking the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) from placing thousands of employees on administrative leave and evacuating workers stationed overseas.
The order, issued on Friday, also reinstates all employees placed on leave earlier this week. The American Foreign Service Association and the American Federation of Government Employees filed a lawsuit Thursday night aimed at halting the apparent effort to decimate the foreign aid agency and reposition it under the auspices of the State Department.
The lawsuit alleges that the administration's plans violate the constitutional separation of powers, the take care clause that tasks the president with faithfully executing federal law, and in multiple instances the Administrative Procedures Act.
The judge halted all of the Trump administration's workforce actions, including leave placements, evacuation of overseas personnel and the shutting off of employees' access to USAID's computer systems, until February 14 at midnight.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate confirmed that USAID planned to place another 2,200 workers on leave Friday night, moves that many believe to be a prelude to their termination. Karla Gilbride, who just last week was removed from her position as general counsel of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, said Friday's planned leave notices, many of which were aimed at USAID workers stationed overseas, would cause a myriad of harms to the agency's workforce.
"They will be locked out of all computer systems, all payment systems, email systems, as well as systems that inform them of security threats," she said. "This would imperil their safety, the operations of USAID and their institutional partners, and it adds to the instability of these already unstable regions."