Judge blocks Trump's decision to furlough 2,200 USAID workers

A federal judge has temporarily banned the administration of US President Donald Trump from sending 2,200 employees of the US Agency for International Development (USAD) on paid leave. This was reported by the international news agency Associated Press (AP), according to UNN.

Details

The Associated Press reports that on Friday, February 07, a federal judge  said he would order a temporary halt to plans to lay off thousands of employees of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAD).

US District Judge Carl Nichols, nominated by Trump, has sided with two federal employee associations in agreeing to suspend plans to send 2,200 employees on paid furloughs starting midnight Friday. Nichols emphasized that his order was not a response to the employees' request to reverse the administration's rapid destruction of the agency

According to the Associated Press, the American Foreign Service Association and the American Federation of Government Employees argue that Trump does not have the authority to close the six-decade-old aid agency without congressional approval. Democratic lawmakers have made the same argument.

“The Trump administration acted quickly on Friday to literally erase the name of the agency. Workers on a crane erased the name from the stone facade of its headquarters in Washington, DC. They used duct tape to stick it on a sign and removed USAID flags. Someone placed a bouquet of flowers at the door,” the news agency added.

Recall

Earlier it became known that the Trump administration is preparing a large-scale reduction in the USAID staff, leaving only 294 employees out of more than 10,000. The decision threatens global humanitarian aid and disease control programs.

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