U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols lifted a temporary restraining order issued earlier this month in response to a lawsuit filed by labor unions.
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) issued a notice on Feb. 23 stating that it was laying off at least 1,600 workers in the United States and placing others on administrative leave after a federal judge lifted a temporary restraining order blocking the planned staff removal.
All remaining USAID direct hire personnel will be placed on “administrative leave globally” from midnight Feb. 23, except for those handling “mission-critical functions, core leadership and/or specially designated programs,” according to the agency’s notice.
The notice states that agency leadership will notify essential personnel that they need to continue working by 5 p.m. EST on Feb. 23, while affected workers will receive information about their benefits and rights.
It is unclear how many essential workers will be retained by the State Department agency. A Congressional Research Service report published on Jan. 6 showed that USAID has more than 10,000 employees, with approximately two-thirds of them serving overseas.
The agency issued the notice after U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols on Feb. 21 lifted a temporary restraining order, which he had issued earlier this month in response to a lawsuit filed by labor unions—the American Federation of Government Employees and the American Foreign Service Association. The unions alleged that the Trump administration’s effort to dismantle USAID could violate the Appropriations Act, which requires the president to notify Congress before significantly altering USAID’s workforce.
In a ruling on Feb. 21, Nichols said he denied a motion for a preliminary injunction because the plaintiffs had not established a likelihood of success on the merits and the public interest did not strongly favor an injunction.
“Plaintiffs have presented no irreparable harm they or their members are imminently likely to suffer from the hypothetical future dissolution of USAID,” the judge said.
Nichols also signaled that future claims related to USAID’s workforce reductions must go through administrative review, such as the Merit Systems Protection Board or Foreign Service Grievance Board, before being brought to court.
