USAID Laying Off 1,600 Workers After Court Lifted Restraining Order

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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 โ€œadministrative leave globallyโ€ from midnight Feb. 23, except for those handling โ€œmission-critical functions, core leadership and/or specially designated programs,โ€ according to the agencyโ€™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 unionsโ€”the American Federation of Government Employees and the American Foreign Service Association. The unions alleged that the Trump administrationโ€™s effort to dismantle USAID could violate the Appropriations Act, which requires the president to notify Congress before significantly altering USAIDโ€™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.

โ€œPlaintiffs have presented no irreparable harm they or their members are imminently likely to suffer from the hypothetical future dissolution of USAID,โ€ the judge said.

Nichols also signaled that future claims related to USAIDโ€™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.

Byย Aldgra Fredly

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