Judge clears way for Trump administration to pull thousands of USAID staffers off the job
Source: Associated Press
Judge clears way for Trump administration to pull thousands of USAID staffers off the job
By ELLEN KNICKMEYER and LINDSAY WHITEHURST
Updated 3:55 PM EST, February 21, 2025
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A federal judge on Friday cleared the way for the Trump administration to pull thousands of U.S. Agency for International Development staffers off the job. ... U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols removed his temporary block on the effort to remove all but a small fraction of USAID staffers from their posts and give those abroad a 30-day deadline to move back to the U.S. at government expense.
His ruling comes in a lawsuit filed by unions on behalf of workers. They say the rush to dismantle the agency had cut off some staffers overseas from emergency communications systems, including some in danger of political violence in Congo. ... Nichols found that the unions' challenge must be dealt with under federal employment laws rather than in district court.
The Trump administration and the cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency tied to billionaire Elon Musk have moved swiftly to shutter USAID, asserting that its work is wasteful and out of line with the president's agenda.
{snip}
The Trump administration has stalled medical evacuations for as many as 25 USAID staffers and spouses in the later stages of high-risk pregnancies overseas, according to testimony in lawsuits and a person familiar with the cases. The person was not authorized to speak publicly so spoke on condition of anonymity.
{snip}
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/trump-usaid-foreign-aid-staffing-cuts-lawsuits-d1ec029b4d14c37c25abc5dc07066471
Okay, NOW I can go to the grocery store.
Hat tip, WTOP, right as this was going out over the CBS News
BumRushDaShow
(165,821 posts)and threw this out on their wire service before finally putting it on their main website.
mahatmakanejeeves
(68,249 posts)It was on the air, heard locally on an AM-FM radio that I turned on to see if I could venture out to the Harris-Teeter, but there was nothing online. I posted seconds after I saw it on the AP, which of course can't be trusted, due to their stylebook.
BumRushDaShow
(165,821 posts)but wasn't an actual linked article on their main website until later.
(and lol
)
h2ebits
(973 posts)I thought that a judge just informed them yesterday that they had to release the funds they impounded for USAID--all of the funds. He stopped short of issuing an injunction.
An absolutely disgusting mess.
mahatmakanejeeves
(68,249 posts)BumRushDaShow
(165,821 posts)That is what got me going crazy when I got a breaking banner from AP on it but couldn't find it actually on AP's website until later. Was trying to see which judge they were talking about and which case.
h2ebits
(973 posts)that was why I edited my original post because if they release the impounded funds, who is still around to utilize the funds since they basically fired everyone and shut down USAID.
What a cop-out by this judge. He could have issued a temporary injunction to move it into a different court.
In the meantime, people are dying without this aid and lots of employees don't know whether they are coming or going.
This is beyond upsetting to me.
BumRushDaShow
(165,821 posts)where they are demanding that the organization show "harm" (to that organization) vs the individuals, and if that is not explained well enough, then the request is denied.
I *think* what was often done in the past with these types of suits is that they will have at least one individual (or a little group of them) ALONG WITH the Union or organization, doing the "suing".
This is also why some of those "fired" Board members have been reinstated because THEY (as individuals) sued vs someone like the ACLU and others "alone", etc.