A US judge on Friday said he will enter a “very limited” temporary order blocking Donald Trump’s administration from taking certain steps to dismantle the US Agency for International Development (USaid), according to Reuters.
US district judge Carl Nichols in Washington said he would issue the order following a lawsuit by the largest US government workers’ union and an association of foreign service workers, who sued on Thursday to stop the administration’s efforts to dismantle the agency.
In a notice sent to the foreign aid agency’s workers on Thursday, the administration said it will keep 611 essential workers onboard at USaid out of a worldwide workforce that totals more than 10,000. This move has largely been directed by Elon Musk, who’s spearheading the president’s effort to shrink the federal bureaucracy.
A justice department official, Brett Shumate, told Nichols that about 2,200 USAid employees would be put on paid leave under the administration’s plans, saying: “The president has decided there is corruption and fraud at USAid.”
