Federal Workers Sue to Halt Cuts at USAID

Federal workers are taking legal action against the dismantling of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which faces drastic cuts to nearly all of its over 10,000 staff by Friday.

The cuts would reduce employment numbers to just 294, according to Randy Chester, vice president of the American Foreign Service Association at USAID. In a press conference on Thursday, he announced the lawsuit aimed at President Donald Trump and members of his administration seeking injunctive relief to stop the cuts.

Chester remarked, "The rest of the service will be furloughed and put on administrative leave, pending, but we assume there will be a reduction."

An anonymous USAID employee informed Business Insider that "the whole region of sub-Saharan Africa will be left with 12 staff members -- or less."

The Trump administration's initiative to gut the foreign aid agency will also put a halt to contracts managed abroad by USAID.

On Tuesday evening, USAID announced it would place nearly all its staff on administrative leave starting Friday at 11:59 p.m., with exceptions for those with "exceptional circumstances," according to Secretary of State Marco Rubio. USAID is coordinating return travel with the State Department within 30 days.

Rubio stated, "We're not trying to be disruptive to people's personal lives, we're not being punitive here, but this is the only way we've been able to get cooperation from USAID," during a press briefing from the Dominican Republic.

This development follows criticisms from Donald Trump and Elon Musk against the agency for being wasteful and supporting liberal initiatives, with Musk labeling it a "criminal organization" on X.

The American Federation of Government Employees, representing around 800,000 federal workers, filed the lawsuit alongside the American Foreign Service Association, naming President Trump, Rubio, Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent, the State Department, USAID, and the Treasury Department as defendants.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs described the Trump administration's actions as a constitutional and moral crisis.

The White House has not responded to Business Insider's request for comment.

USAID manages programs in 65 countries, focusing on medical assistance, food and nutrition, HIV treatment, and aid for those in conflict zones. Data indicates that USAID allocated nearly $32.5 billion in aid for the fiscal year 2024, predominantly to Ukraine, Jordan, and Ethiopia. Half of this funding supported humanitarian or health-related causes, while an additional $7 billion targeted governance.

Foreign spending constitutes less than 1% of the US federal budget, notwithstanding the US being the largest provider of humanitarian aid worldwide.

Many prominent Democrats and legal experts assert that closing USAID is illegal, as an independent agency can only be dissolved through an act of Congress.

Five days into Trump's presidency, the US suspended billions in humanitarian aid aimed at health, education, and anti-corruption initiatives, among other goals.

Recently, Trump hinted at potential plans to dismantle the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Environmental Justice.