INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
A federal judge on Friday dealt President Donald Trump and billionaire ally Elon Musk their first big setback in their dismantling of the
Agency for International Development, saying he will order a temporary halt to plans to pull thousands of agency staffers off the job.U.S
District Judge Carl Nichols, who was nominated by Trump, sided with two federal employee associations in agreeing to a pause in plans to put
2,200 employees on paid leave as of midnight Friday
American Federation of Government Employees argue that Trump lacks the authority to shut down the six-decade-old aid agency without approval
Workers on a crane scrubbed the name from the stone front of its Washington headquarters
They used duct tape to block it out on a sign and took down USAID flags
Someone placed a bouquet of flowers outside the door.The Trump administration and Musk, who is running a budget-cutting Department of
Government Efficiency, have made USAID their biggest target so far in an unprecedented challenge of the federal government and many of its
Brett Shumate argued that the administration has all the legal authority it needs to place agency staffers on leave
financial incentives for federal workers to resign and end birthright citizenship for anyone born in the U.S
to someone in the country illegally have been temporarily paused by judges.Earlier Friday, a group of a half-dozen USAID officials speaking
to reporters strongly disputed assertions from Secretary of State Marco Rubio that the most essential life-saving programs abroad were
getting waivers to continue funding
None were, the officials said.Among the programs they said had not received waivers: $450 million in food grown by U.S
farmers sufficient to feed 36 million people, which was not being paid for or delivered; and water supplies for 1.6 million people displaced
Besides the 2,200 workers temporarily protected from being put on leave, the fate was not clear of others who work with the agency and have
been laid off, furloughed or put on leave.Trump and congressional Republicans have spoken of moving a much-reduced number of aid and
development programs under the State Department.Within the State Department itself, employees fear substantial staff reductions following
condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal
A judge temporarily blocked that offer and set a hearing Monday.The administration earlier this week gave almost all USAID staffers posted
overseas 30 days, starting Friday, to return to the U.S., with the government paying for their travel and moving costs
Diplomats at embassies asked for waivers allowing more time for some, including families forced to pull their children out of schools
midyear.In a notice posted on the USAID website late Thursday, the agency clarified that none of the overseas personnel put on leave would
be forced to leave the country where they work
But it said that workers who chose to stay longer than 30 days might have to cover their own expenses unless they received a specific
hardship waiver.Rubio said Thursday during a trip to the Dominican Republic that the government would help staffers get home within 30 days
Agency staffers deny his claims of obstruction.Rubio said the U.S
