Judge clears way for Trump administration to pull thousands of USAID staffers off the job

WASHINGTON — 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.

Staffers, however, assert that the courts’ temporary blocks have had only limited effect in slowing the Trump administration’s dismantling of USAID and have left some USAID workers stationed worldwide in precarious situations.

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 and spoke on condition of anonymity.

USAID “will undertake all measures as appropriate to ensure the safety and security of current employees,” deputy administrator Pete Marocco said in a court filing Thursday.

The administration says it is taking all required care of staffers as it terminates USAID programs and aims to recall thousands of workers and their families abroad.

Multiple lawsuits from groups representing USAID workers and nonprofits and businesses are challenging President Trump’s freeze on foreign assistance, USAID job cuts and the sudden shutdown of the agency overall. Another court order has temporarily blocked the halt to funding. The administration has accused USAID’s programs of being wasteful and promoting a liberal agenda.

Pregnant women fear over their care

Meanwhile, American women and their spouses say they have been left in substandard medical care in posts in unstable countries, fearing for their lives.

“Everyone says I need to wait and see what happens” with Trump administration decisions, a USAID staffer, whose pregnancy is complicated by high blood pressure, said in a court filing from her posting in an undisclosed country in Africa.

The woman’s affidavit and others from staffers were filed with courts anonymously because of repeated warnings from the Trump administration that USAID staffers risk dismissal if they speak publicly.

“I have a due date that does not allow me to just wait and see what happens,” the USAID staffer wrote. “If I cannot medevac as planned, I will be in a life-threatening situation.”

In another case, a pregnant spouse of a USAID worker was left hemorrhaging in a foreign hospital bed to await delivery, her husband said in another affidavit. The intervention of a U.S. senator, who was not identified in the the affidavit, secured the government’s agreement to pay for a medical evacuation. But doctors say the approval came too late in her pregnancy for her to safely take a long series of flights back to the U.S., even with medical escort.

The State Department did not respond to requests for comment on workers’ allegations that the government was stalling or refusing medical evacuations.

Workers facing other uncertainty abroad

In lifting his order temporarily blocking a Trump administration order that would put thousands of USAID staffers on leave, Nichols could allow the administration to start the clock on a 30-day deadline for USAID workers abroad to leave their posts.

Lawyers for employee groups presented Nichols with accounts saying that the Trump administration had left workers without direction or funding when political violence in Congo forced their evacuation.

USAID officials paid for two meals and offered the evacuated Congo-based employees an opportunity to look through boxes of donated clothing once they arrived in Washington, said the staffers, who were not identified in court documents.

Administration officials otherwise have left the evacuated staffers to rack up tens of thousands of dollars in uncompensated hotel bills, with no guidance on whether they should stay in Washington, go elsewhere or whether they still will have a job, the lawsuit charges.

USAID workers still overseas describe their lives as in chaos and lacking guidance from the government, including USAID failing to pay electricity bills.

Staffers told the courts in written testimony that they fear being left without time or the means to sell their homes or pay off landlords owed money. But they say they fear being targeted if they try to stay beyond the current 30-day deadline — frozen by Nichols’ earlier order — to return to the U.S. at government expense.

Other staffers offered testimony about being cut off from U.S. government communications. Multiple contract employees have told the AP that “panic button” apps and other alert systems on their phones meant to notify the U.S. government in the event of a safety threat were cut off for at least some time.

Knickmayer and Whitehurst write for the Associated Press.