President Donald Trump’s new administration has been hit with a lawsuit over its decision to suddenly put U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) workers on administrative leave.
In a Thursday night filing, the Public Citizen Litigation Group and Democracy Forward brought the lawsuit against Trump, Marco Rubio, Scott Bessent, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the State Department, and the Department of Treasury on behalf of the American Foreign Service Association and American Federation of Government Employees. It alleges that the move caused a “global humanitarian crisis.”
According to the filing, the legal action “seeks declaratory and injunctive relief with respect to a series of unconstitutional and illegal actions,” taken by the administration.
These actions began the day Trump was inaugurated, when he issued an executive order titled “Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid” that directed his staff to put an immediate 90 day pause on U.S. foreign development assistance to assess efficiencies and consistency with U.S. foreign policy. This was followed by stop work orders from Secretary of State Rubio.
This week, Audacy reported on a memo that revealed that most USAID direct hire personnel would be put on leave by the end of the day Friday, as well as plans to fold USAID into the state department. These actions were met with protests, as reported by the Associated Press.
Former President John F. Kennedy first established the department and USAID’s existence was later mandated by Congress. Over more than six decades, the agency has helped save millions of lives and serves to further U.S. interests around the world through humanitarian efforts.
“As the complaint explains, by imposing a stop work orders, freezing funding, putting staff on leave or terminating them entirely, naming Secretary Rubio as Acting Director, and other actions, the Trump Administration has cost thousands of Americans their jobs and threatened U.S. national security interests,” said Public Citizen Litigation Group in a press release. “And it has led to humanitarian catastrophe: USAID provides life-saving food, medicine, and support to hundreds of thousands of people across the world.”
According to the Brookings Institution, “recent annual appropriations legislation also prohibits any reorganization of USAID without prior consultation with relevant congressional committees,” and it said that the Trump administration actions could be invalidated in federal court.
At the same time, Trump and Elon Musk – the multi-billionaire he tasked with cutting government spending as the co-lead of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) claim that USAID is rife with corruption. While NBC News noted that the agency has often been a target of criticism “masked nation-meddling and overspent American tax dollars abroad,” the outlet said the criticisms Musk has shared on X, the popular social media platform he purchased, are based in conspiracy theories.
“Most of Musk’s more than 160 posts about USAID have been responses to a handful of small but influential verified accounts, many of them using pseudonyms,” NBC News said. It also said that Mike Benz, a former Trump administration official-turned-conservative researcher, is one of the top spreaders of the USAID conspiracy theories and that Musk has frequently interacted with him on X in recent weeks.
The lawsuit filed this week calls for the moves against USAID to be declared unlawful, as well as a temporary restraining order, restoration of funding, a recall of furloughs and more.
“The men and women of USAID deserve a government that values and understands their contributions, not one that leaves them high and dry and unable to pursue their important work after a hostile takeover,” said Everett Kelley, AFGE National President. “We will stand up for our members and all USAID workers who deliver aid across the globe and contribute to a safer, healthier world for all Americans.”