A federal judge raided the way for the Trump administration to advance with plans to eliminate thousands of US agencies for international development workers.
The United States District Judge, Carl Nichols, denied a request from the labor groups to issue a preliminary judicial order after the Trump administration said that thousands of employees of USAID would be on administrative license and order the agency staff in The foreigner returning to the USA. In the 30 days.
“Weigh the claims of the plaintiffs about these questions against those of the government is like comparing apples with oranges. When one side states that USAID operations are essential for human flourishing and the other side states that they are currently disagreeing with it, it is simply not possible for the court to conclude, as a matter of law or equity, that the public interest favors or be in a court order, ”Nichols wrote.
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“The plaintiffs have not presented irreparable damage that they or their members may suffer the hypothetical future dissolution of the USAID,” Nichols wrote. “And it is not clear why the speed of the procedures in the relevant agencies would be insufficient to address the only actions that have already happened and are currently ready to review: Administrative License locations, accelerated evacuations and other changes in the working conditions of the working conditions of the Type those bodies face routinely. “
Earlier this month, the judge had stopped the transfer of the administration to place 2,200 USAID personnel with administrative license. He also terminated the license for 500 workers and stopped efforts to accelerate evacuations for personnel abroad. The temporary restriction order in these actions extended until Friday’s judge’s decision.
The demand was initially presented by the American Foreign Service Association, a union that represents 1,980 foreign service officers who work for USAID and the American Federation of Government employees. They argued that the efforts to dissolve USAID have had “disastrous humanitarian consequences” at the end of the agency’s efforts to stop deaths from children’s malaria, end the pharmaceutical clinical trials and threaten the resurgence of HIV.
They also alleged that the move to gut the agency had “already in danger of American life”, and referred to the State Department last month advising US citizens who abandon the Democratic Republic of Congo due to security concerns linked to protests in the United States government buildings.
“By abruptly putting the personnel on administrative license, the defendants left USAID workers in dangerous situations, without any information or funds to escape,” said the demand.
Tom Yazdgerdi, president of the American Foreign Service Association, described the judge’s ruling “a setback in our struggle to protect our members from the efforts that threaten to dismantle USAID, but does not change the importance of their mission: advance in interest from the United States and deliver assistance to save lives worldwide. “
Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, one of the companies that represent the unions in the demand, said that “they would continue to chase all the legal options in this case to guarantee the security of the Americans at home and abroad” .
“The Trump administration attack against USAID is part of a coordinated effort to undermine the will of Congress and isolate the United States on the global stage,” Perryman said in a statement.
The White House did not immediately respond to a comment request on Friday night.
The Trump administration has indicated that it hopes to reduce up to 10% of the Federal Work Force. The efficiency department of the Government of the Technological Billionaire Elon Musk has played a central role in these efforts and in the general plans to drastically reduce government spending.
In addition to promoting false conspiracy theories about USAID, Musk recently referred to the agency as “a criminal organization” in an X publication that added: “Time to die.”
