The future of the government's foreign aid agencies depends on the balance of the future of the government's foreign aid agencies after a temporary suspension of the Trump administration's plans to leave thousands of employees on Friday night.
The union representing federal employees fought to save the US Agency for International Development (USAID) to court after taking Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to its agency. It has to “die.”
“The sudden demolition of USAID, an agency that does life-saving work all over the world, is a deep moral stain without notifying thousands of employees and those they serve,” said lawyer Lauren, lawyer. – The civil lawsuit group, which filed a lawsuit on behalf of the union alongside the front of Bateman democracy, told reporters Thursday evening.
But President Trump I took it into a true society On Friday morning, he doubles his efforts to demolish the agency.
“USAID is driving the radical left crazy, but there's nothing they can do because the way the money was spent can't explain how it's so unfairly used. Corruption has previously been It's at a level that you can't see. Close!” Trump wrote.
The court can determine the fate of USAID
Trump-appointed Judge Carl Nichols said he would issue a “limited, very limited” order Friday evening, temporarily suspending plans.
“They shouldn't put 2,200 people on administrative leave tonight,” Nichols said at the hearing. According to the Congressional Research Services (CRS), more than 10,000 people worked at agencies in 2023. Congress's internal research institute.
Late night orderBy placing thousands of USAID workers on administrative leave on Friday at the US Foreign Affairs Association and the Federation of the US Government's Employees, stopping them from evacuating from the host country in the middle of the night on February 14th. Give me a short grace.
For 500 USAID employees currently on administrative leave, Nichols ordered they should recover until that day and “full access” to email, payments and security notification systems.
A preliminary injunction hearing is scheduled for February 12th.
Legal experts and democratic lawmakers argue that it is illegal and unconstitutional for administrative agencies to close institutions established and funded by Congress.
The agency was created in 1961 and codified by Congress in 1998.Analysis posted on Monday By CRS.
Trump and his allies justify their plans by claiming that the agency is full of fraud and corruption, referring to millions of dollars for a Politico “pro” subscription, and Columbia's ” If you pay $47,000 to pay for the “transgender opera”, It was exposedBy the non-profit newsroom Notus.
“If you look at USAID, everything is fraudulent. It's rarely used very often, Trump told reporters on Friday.
Thousands of USAID workers are holding their breath
Dramatic cuts and orders for overseas employees to return to the US Within 30 days Thousands of lives have been thrown into a state of uncertainty.
The affidavit filed along with the lawsuit details the confusion caused by a sudden effort to clean the home and the potential consequences of the plan being implemented.
One USAID employee who was 32 weeks pregnantExplained “dangerous” stress And the potential confusion in her birth plan. Another said 15 years later as a foreign service officer, he and his two children would effectively become homeless if they were suddenly recalled to the US.
“In the near future, we will return to homelessness in the US without cars, without school districts, without employment, without pensions, without health insurance. This experience has deteriorated, dehumanized, and for my family. It's been hurting,” the policeman wrote.
Democrats plot long-term legislative solutions
Democrats have vowed to fight Congress, courts and press the Trump administration's efforts to shut down unconstitutional and unconstitutional and coups.
“They won the House. They won the US Senate. They have a majority across Congress. But we are not helpless,” said Senator Corey Booker, DN.J. .) spoke about Republicans at a rally on Wednesday in support of USAID outside the Capitol.
Booker also said that Senator Brian Schatz (d-hawaii)'s blanket is Trump's State Department candidate until the administration halted efforts by Rep. Sarah Jacobs (D-Calif), known as the “coup,” to dismantle the USAID. He supported the people.
“It's a glove of power to silence critics, and let's be clear, USAID might be the first, but it won't be the last,” Jacobs said at a rally on Wednesday. “But I'm kidding them, because who knows better how to work in a country that is more authoritative than all of you.”
Jacobs also said he plans to introduce a bill “to push back against the illegal acquisition of Elon Musk's USAID.”
At Wednesday's rally, Rep. Greg Stanton (D-Ariz.) took a little time to talk to his Republican colleagues.
“You may be rooting for this act by Trump and Musk, and you may just be afraid of Trump and Musk, but let's be clear. They are bypassing you too, and America People will hold you accountable,” Stanton said.
“This will not stop until Congressional lawmakers on either side of the aisle stand up and remind Trump that we are an equal branch of the government, so we need to restore checks and balance in this country. ”
Republicans are primarily supportive of Trump in the purge
Republican lawmakers were largely silent or lined up behind Trump on issues of the USAID's future.
Rep. Brian Mast (R-FLA.), chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, came out early in support of stripping USAID of independence.
In an interview last weekend about “Face the Nation,” Mast said, “If that's the road we're going down, we'll remove USAID as a separate division and make it one of the other parts of the US division. I said, the nation for its failure.”
The committee will hold a hearing next Thursday that the Trump administration will effectively shut down agencies and freeze almost all foreign aid.
Senate Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman James R-Idaho said in a statement on Monday He “supported the Trump administration's efforts to reform and restructure institutions in ways that served the national security interests of the United States.”
The attack occurs when federal employees weigh on the weight of their “shop”
The dismantling of USAID warns that the offer could be made next, as the Trump administration offers a “postponed resignation” across federal workers.
Offer known as “Road Forks”I promise employeesIf they accept, they will retain full pay and benefits without working until September 30th. However, the offer is not without risk, including the fact that Congress provided funding the government by mid-March.
The White House said 20,000 federal employees had accepted the offer as of Tuesday. The offer originally expired on Thursday, but the federal judge extended the deadline to at least Monday. At the very least, the court considered another legal challenge posed by the United States Federation of Government Employees.
“We've extended the deadline so we can make this extremely generous once-in-a-lifetime offer as more federal workers refuse to show up in our offices.” I was grateful.
