US district judge Carl Nichols on Friday gave the green light for US President Donald Trump’s administration to remove thousands of USAID staffers from their posts in the US and around the world. The ruling allows most USAID employees to be dismissed, with only a few kept on.
Nichols at first declined to extend his temporary block on the move. The judge explained that the alleged injuries in the lawsuit – brought by unions on behalf of USAID workers – arise from the employees’ existing contracts with the agency. This, he argued, means the matter should be resolved under federal employment laws rather than in district court.
Under the administration’s plan, USAID workers stationed abroad would have just 30 days to return to the US at government expense. In addition, the plan would result in pulling staff off the job both in the US and abroad. Critics, including unions representing the staff, claim that these measures have led to dangerous and uncertain conditions for those working in high-risk areas.
The lawsuit details harrowing accounts of workers being left stranded in volatile regions. One USAID staffer, posting anonymously from an undisclosed African country, said, “Everyone says I need to wait and see what happens” as she faced complications with high blood pressure during a late-stage pregnancy.
In another case, a pregnant spouse was left haemorrhaging in a foreign hospital bed. Her husband recounted that a US senator had to intervene to secure a medical evacuation. However, doctors stated that the intervention came too late for her to travel safely back to the US.
Concerns have also been raised over the administration’s approach to emergency communications. Initially, Judge Nichols expressed deep worry about staffers left overseas without adequate access to rescue measures amid political violence, such as that in Congo. However, he later noted that he had been reassured by the administration’s promise that these workers would still have access to two-way radios and a phone app featuring a “panic button.” According to Nichols, “the risk posed to USAID employees who are placed on administrative leave while stationed abroad – if there is any – is far more minimal than it initially appeared.”
Critics of the Trump administration argue that the proposed cuts are part of a broader plan to shutter USAID altogether. The administration has asserted that the agency’s work is wasteful and misaligned with the president’s agenda, though no evidence has been provided to support this claim. In addition to the mass job cuts, the plan has also involved a funding freeze that affected essential programmes. Lifesaving initiatives, including PEPFAR – the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief – and an Ebola outbreak response in Uganda, are reportedly being hampered by these measures.
Furthermore, USAID workers still stationed overseas have described chaotic conditions, with many left to contend with issues such as unpaid electricity bills and mounting hotel expenses after being evacuated from dangerous situations.