A federal judge said Friday he is putting at least a short-term stop to President Trump’s plans to place thousands of employees at the U.S. Agency for International Development on administrative leave, dealing another legal setback to the new administration’s attempt to reshape the government bureaucracy.

U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols acted just hours before the midnight timeline the administration had set for the agency’s annihilation.

The judge, who was appointed to the court in Washington in Mr. Trump’s first term, said he would issue a written ruling later detailing his reasoning for the temporary restraining order.

The Trump administration had planned to put all USAID workers on administrative leave and to recall those living abroad. Mr. Trump says the agency is operating as a rogue bureaucracy, spending money beyond the boundaries he wants and Congress intended.

The agency’s website has disappeared and its computer systems have gone offline. The sign at its headquarters building in Washington was removed Friday.

The American Federal of Government Employees and the American Foreign Service Association, which represents nearly 2,000 USAID employees, sued to stop the shutdown. They asked the judge to keep the employees on the job and to restore the computers.

“The agency’s collapse has had disastrous humanitarian consequences,” the unions argued, pointing to the agency’s work. “Already, 300 babies that would not have had HIV, now do. Thousands of girls and women will die from pregnancy and childbirth. Without judicial intervention, it will only get worse.”

The blockade is the latest in a string of early legal setbacks for Mr. Trump.

Several judges blocked his birthright citizenship changes, several put his federal assistance grant and contract spending pause on hold, and one has halted his federal employee buyouts.

As of Friday evening, USAID’s website still maintained a message alerting employees of the shutdown.

“On Friday, February 7, 2025, at 11:59 pm (EST) all USAID direct hire personnel will be placed on administrative leave globally, with the exception of designated personnel responsible for mission-critical functions, core leadership and specially designated programs,” the website read.

It said employees posted abroad have 30 days to return, and it said some exceptions would be made for families with children in school or facing medical situations.

• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.