A D.C. federal judge sided with USAID workers Thursday, granting their request to extend a restraining order that prevents the Trump administration from effectively shutting down the foreign aid agency.
U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee, said he would extend by one week the temporary restraining order, with plans to issue a final decision on a request to block President Donald Trump’s action on Feb. 21.
His new order instructs the government to reinstate any USAID employees put on administrative leave and forbids the Trump administration from implementing any new administrative leave on USAID employees.
The hearing Thursday centered on the level of “irreparable harm” alleged against Trump’s executive action in court. Nichols asked plaintiff’s attorneys detailed questions about the impact of a stop work order that placed virtually every USAID employee on leave.
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Karla Gilbride, representing the American Foreign Service Association and the American Federation of Government Employees, told the judge that USAID employees had suffered harm both due to their own safety concerns and concerns for their well-being.
“These are not a few isolated incidents, this is an unprecedented dismantling of a congressionally created agency,” she said. Plaintiffs “are being harmed by actions that are unconstitutional… This is a coordinated and unconstitutional effort to dismantle the agency.”
Meanwhile, the Justice Department attorney, Eric Hamilton told Nichols that the USAID grievances are a matter of “personnel nature,” arguing that they should be handled via the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) appeals process, rather than the federal court system.
Hamilton also pushed back on the claims of “irreparable harm,” telling Nichols that the government is “committed to their safety.”
“98% of those placed on administrative leave were in the US and the remaining were in developed nations like the UK,” Hamilton said.
He pointed to a Wednesday night ruling from U.S. District Judge George O’Toole in Massachusetts allowing the Trump administration’s deferred resignation program – colloquially known as the “fork in the road” resignation offer – to stand, arguing that this action is similar.
Last week, Nichols granted a request from U.S. Agency for International Development employees to temporarily block the Trump administration’s order, which would have placed some 2,200 USAID employees on leave as of last Friday, and given all employees living abroad just 30 days to return to U.S. soil at government expense.
The order also temporarily reinstated some 500 employees that had been placed on administrative leave by Trump.
Nichols said in his decision last week that, barring court intervention, the abrupt order would cause “irreparable harm” to employees affected by the withdrawal orders.
He had paused the Trump administration’s plans through Friday, Feb. 14, which Nichols said would allow for “expedited” arguments to help the court determine the legality of the actions.
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