Judge Stops Trump Plan to Send Aid Workers Home.
A court stopped President Donald Trump from putting 2,200 aid workers on leave Friday. Judge Carl Nichols blocked the move hours before it was set to start.
His order will last one week, until February 14. The judge acted after two worker groups filed a case to save the United States Agency for International Development.
Trump says USAID does not help taxpayers. He wants to send most of its 10,000 workers home, keeping just 611 people. The office had already put 500 workers on leave.
The worker groups said Trump broke the nation's laws. Judge Nichols agreed the workers would face great harm without his help. He said the order would not hurt the government at all.
"Workers must come back to work. They need their email and pay systems back," Nichols wrote. He will look at a longer pause next Wednesday.
As the judge made his choice, people took down USAID signs at the main office in Washington, DC. USAID gives more aid than any group in the world. It runs health plans in many places. Most of its staff work in other lands.
Trump wants to cut money at many government offices. He and Elon Musk created the Department of Government Efficiency to find ways to spend less.
The unions said Trump broke the law by trying to close USAID without first asking Congress. "Only Congress can close the office," they said.
Trump's lawyer, Brett Shumate, told the judge that the president found bad acts at USAID. When he started work on January 20, Trump stopped all help to other lands. He wanted to check if the money fit his "America First" ideas.
"USAID makes the far left mad," Trump wrote online. "The bad acts there are very big. Shut it down!"
Samantha Power, who led USAID under Joe Biden, wrote strong words against the move. "This will hurt America's work in other lands very much," she said.
The US gives more help than any other country. USAID uses about $40 billion each year, a small part of what the US spends.
The UN's AIDS chief said the cuts would cause much harm. "Many more people will die from AIDS in five years if we do not bring the money back," Winnie Byanyima said.
A court stopped President Donald Trump from putting 2,200 aid workers on leave Friday. Judge Carl Nichols blocked the move hours before it was set to start.
His order will last one week, until February 14. The judge acted after two worker groups filed a case to save the United States Agency for International Development.
Trump says USAID does not help taxpayers. He wants to send most of its 10,000 workers home, keeping just 611 people. The office had already put 500 workers on leave.
The worker groups said Trump broke the nation's laws. Judge Nichols agreed the workers would face great harm without his help. He said the order would not hurt the government at all.
"Workers must come back to work. They need their email and pay systems back," Nichols wrote. He will look at a longer pause next Wednesday.
As the judge made his choice, people took down USAID signs at the main office in Washington, DC. USAID gives more aid than any group in the world. It runs health plans in many places. Most of its staff work in other lands.
Trump wants to cut money at many government offices. He and Elon Musk created the Department of Government Efficiency to find ways to spend less.
The unions said Trump broke the law by trying to close USAID without first asking Congress. "Only Congress can close the office," they said.
Trump's lawyer, Brett Shumate, told the judge that the president found bad acts at USAID. When he started work on January 20, Trump stopped all help to other lands. He wanted to check if the money fit his "America First" ideas.
"USAID makes the far left mad," Trump wrote online. "The bad acts there are very big. Shut it down!"
Samantha Power, who led USAID under Joe Biden, wrote strong words against the move. "This will hurt America's work in other lands very much," she said.
The US gives more help than any other country. USAID uses about $40 billion each year, a small part of what the US spends.
The UN's AIDS chief said the cuts would cause much harm. "Many more people will die from AIDS in five years if we do not bring the money back," Winnie Byanyima said.
