A federal judge Thursday extended a freeze on the Trump administration’s plan to place over 2,000 U.S. Agency for International Development staffers on leave, according to multiple outlets, marking the latest development concerning USAID as President Donald Trump looks to dismantle the 63-year-0ld federal agency.
Protestors gather outside of USAID headquarters in Washington, DC.
On Thursday night, a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to temporarily restore USAID’s funding of foreign aid programs and conduct a detailed review of each program before making a decision on what should be eliminated.
In his ruling, Judge Amir Ali noted that while the Trump administration’s rationale for suspending the programs was to conduct a review of their “efficiency and consistency with priorities” they did not explain “why a blanket suspension of all congressionally appropriated foreign aid, which set off a shockwave and upended reliance interests for thousands of agreements with businesses, nonprofits, and organizations around the country, was a rational precursor to reviewing programs.”
Judge Carl Nichols extended his pause on placing USAID staffers on leave through Feb. 21, stopping the Trump administration from taking any further action against the employees and saying he will make a ruling on the case by the end of next week, according to CNN.
USAID Inspector General Paul Martin was told Tuesday he was immediately terminated from his position, CNN first reported, citing an unnamed source familiar with the matter.
Martin published a report Monday saying the Trump administration’s targeting of USAID’s staff and foreign assistance resources made it harder to respond to allegations of misused humanitarian assistance and hindered USAID’s ability to vet aid recipients for potential terrorist ties.
Nichols prevented Trump from placing 2,200 USAID staff on leave while a lawsuit from labor unions works its way through the courts—in what the Trump-appointed judge reportedly called a “limited” move.
As Trump angles to cut USAID, a number of hoaxes about the agency’s funding have spread on X: Forbes is tracking the false claims here.
A labor union and the American Foreign Service Association sued Trump over his plan to shut down large swaths of USAID’s operations, arguing the Constitution only allows Congress—not the president—to scrap a federal agency, and alleging Trump “generated a global humanitarian crisis by abruptly halting the crucial work of USAID employees, grantees, and contractors.”
The New York Times reported the Trump administration plans to cut down USAID’s staff of 10,000 down to about 290 positions, with a small group of remaining workers specializing in health and humanitarian assistance, according to three unnamed people with knowledge of the plan who were cited by the Times.
A notice on USAID’s website said “all USAID direct hire personnel will be placed on administrative leave globally,” by the end of this week “with the exception of designated personnel responsible for mission-critical functions, core leadership and specially designated programs.”
For USAID personnel stationed abroad, the notice said the agency is working with the State Department on a plan to arrange and pay for their return travel to the United States within 30 days. Contractors whose work is not deemed as essential will be laid off.
According to a Congressional report published in January, USAID’s direct hire workforce “totals more than 10,000, with approximately two-thirds serving overseas.”
According to the New York Times, the notice was published after roughly 1,400 U.S.-based USAID staffers were informed about being put on indefinite administrative leave which will remain in place until they were “otherwise notified.”
Several of USAID’s social media handles also appear to have been purged, as its Instagram, X and YouTube pages are no longer accessible. The aid agency’s Facebook page still remains up at the time of publishing although it’s last post was made on Friday featuring an excerpt from an op-ed written by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
A “Rally to Restore Foreign Aid Now” is set to take place in Washington D.C. on Wednesday morning to protest the Trump administration’s efforts to shut down or curtail USAID’s operations.
Several lawmakers are scheduled to speak at the protest including Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., Rep. Lois Frankel, D-Fla. and Rep. Sara Jacobs, D-Calif.
Rubio told lawmakers in a letter: “USAID may move, reorganize, and integrate certain missions, bureaus, and offices into the Department of State, and the remainder of the agency may be abolished consistent with applicable law,” according to The Washington Post, citing agency activities he considered “conflicting” and “overlapping” alongside systems that “often result in the discord of the foreign policy and foreign relations of the United States.”
Rubio appointed Pete Marocco, USAID’s director of foreign assistance, to oversee day-to-day operations of the agency (Marocco served at USAID during the first Trump administration and was put on leave three months into his position after officials filed a complaint about him to the agency's watchdog and claimed he disrupted USAID’s work, gave vague directives and marginalized employees).
Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, told The Wall Street Journal he plans to place a “blanket hold” on Trump’s State Department nominees until USAID is left alone by the president’s administration, with the senator saying he “will do maximal delays until this is resolved.”
USAID employees at an annex office in Washington, D.C., were seen clearing out their desks, The New York Times reported.
Rubio confirmed to reporters traveling with him in Central America that he had been appointed acting administrator of USAID and said he “delegated” his authority to someone, though the Times reported he didn’t name the person.
Citing three anonymous U.S. officials, CBS News reported Monday that USAID will be merged with the State Department and will have “significant cuts in the workforce, but it will remain a humanitarian aid entity.”
Hours after Musk said Trump approved shutting down USAID, ABC News reported the president—whose administration has been seemingly moving toward putting USAID under the control of the State Department—appointed Rubio to temporarily lead the independent organization.
Musk continued ranting against USAID in a post on X in which he said the agency “is/was a radical-left political psy op.”
USAID staffers were told to work from home and avoid the agency’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., on Monday, multiple outlets reported, and hundreds of employees lost access to the computer systems overnight, according to the Associated Press.
An X Spaces stream began to discuss the work of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), during which Musk said he checked with the president a few times about USAID—which Musk claimed, without evidence, was “incredibly politically partisan”—and asked “Are you sure?” and Trump said yes, “so we’re shutting it down.”
Musk described USAID as not just an “apple with a worm it in” but rather a “bowl of worms” which was “beyond repair” and the only solution was “You’ve got to basically get rid of the whole thing.”
Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, who was also on the stream, said if there are “truly good pro-American programs” under USAID’s authority they should be moved under the State Department and “make sure we have proper oversight.”
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Earlier on Sunday evening, Trump was asked by reporters about the state of USAID and said: “Well it's been run by a bunch of radical lunatics, and we're getting them out...and then we'll make a decision.”
“There are a lot of functions of USAID that are going to continue, that are going to be part of American foreign policy, but it has to be aligned with American foreign policy,” Rubio told reporters Monday. “Every dollar we spend and every program we fund ... will be aligned with the national interest of the United States, and USAID has a history of sort of ignoring that and deciding that they’re somehow a global charity.”
USAID is the primary international humanitarian aid and development branch of the U.S. government, and is operated both as an “independent establishment” and under “the direct authority and policy guidance of the Secretary of State,” and each administration has taken its own approach to how that should look, according to the Congressional Research Service. The organization was established in 1961 and provides assistance to countries and leads U.S. efforts against poverty, disease and humanitarian need. In fiscal year 2023, the agency had more than 10,000 employees, managed more than $40 billion in appropriations and gave assistance to about 130 countries.
Operatives from the Department of Government Efficiency, which Musk leads, were reportedly stopped by senior USAID security officials while trying to access materials at the aid agency’s office, including classified information. According to CNN, the two USAID officials were placed on administrative leave on Saturday and the DOGE operatives were ultimately able to access the classified materials despite lacking the appropriate security clearances. Musk responded to CNN’s report by calling USAID a “criminal organization” without any evidence and adding that it was “time for it to die.”
Forbes reported on Monday that USAID spent up to $1 million on SpaceX’s Starlink terminals over the last four years, according to federal contract records, and brought the satellite terminals to countries including Zimbabwe and South Africa. On April 5, 2022, USAID announced it delivered 5,000 Starlink satellite terminals to Ukraine through a “public-private partnership” with SpaceX, Musk’s aerospace company. The terminals were designed to allow officials and service providers to continue communicating with Ukraine amid its war with Russia, was impacting cellular communication infrastructure. Two years later, on May 14, 2024, the USAID Office of Inspector General said it was initiating an inspection of USAID’s oversight of the terminals it provided to the Ukrainian government. The inspection sought to determine how Ukraine used the terminals and how USAID monitored their usage, according to an agency page accessed on the WayBackMachine.
The USAID website went offline on Saturday afternoon amid a push by the Trump administration to bring the independent aid agency under the direct control of the State Department. Trump’s recent actions—including an order to freeze most foreign aid—have triggered confusion and uncertainty at the agency over the past week as staffers feared an impending shutdown. Several of the agency’s signs were taken down from its Washington D.C. offices on Friday, NBC News reported. Global aid groups have warned that shutting down USAID and a halt on U.S. foreign aid may have a catastrophic humanitarian impact across the world.
What To Know About Trump’s USAID Changes—After Elon Musk’s DOGE Accesses Classified Info (Forbes)
USAID Spent $1 Million On Elon Musk’s Starlink Terminals In The Last Year (Forbes)