Politics
JUST IN: Trump, DOGE Secure Significant Legal Victory
A federal judge has ruled in favor of the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) by allowing the termination of nearly 800 contractors, marking a pivotal victory for the administration.
U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, who was appointed by President Donald Trump, determined that the USAID contractors did not establish that their dismissal would result in irreparable harm. The decision denied them the emergency relief they sought to block their firings.
The ruling aligns with Judge Nichols’ earlier judgment against a USAID union’s effort to stop the administration from terminating more than 2,000 direct-hire employees. He noted that the contractors’ harm was a direct result of changes made to their contracts by the government, suggesting they seek redress through alternative legal avenues.
The judge stated that any harm the contractors face is “directly traceable” to changes the government has made to their contracts, according to The Hill, indicating that they should seek relief through a different avenue.
The Personal Services Contractor Association, an advocacy group representing U.S. personal services contractors, filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration last month in an effort to shield contractors from the administration’s push to dismantle the agency. Attorneys for the contractors stated that termination notices had been issued to “possibly hundreds” of the approximately 1,110 contractors employed by USAID, nearly 46 percent of whom are stationed overseas, per The Hill.
“The destruction of USAID is now imminent,” said Carolyn Shapiro, a lawyer for the challengers, during a hearing on the matter Wednesday.
Earlier this year, the Trump administration’s decision to freeze U.S. foreign aid triggered upheaval at USAID. President Trump argued that billions in taxpayer dollars were being wasted on programs that didn’t serve American interests. His executive order mandated a full review of U.S. aid, suspending nearly all programs.
Over 50 senior officials were placed on leave for allegedly working against the freeze, while hundreds of contractors faced furloughs or terminations. The agency’s security team was also sidelined after attempting to block access to investigators from the Department of Government Efficiency, led by Elon Musk. Musk publicly slammed USAID as a “criminal organization” beyond repair, leading to the agency’s website being taken offline and staff denied entry to headquarters.
A federal judge briefly paused the aid cuts, but Chief Justice John Roberts reinstated the suspension pending a Supreme Court review.
Earlier this week, The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 against the Trump administration’s attempt to freeze nearly $2 billion in foreign aid payments, affirming a lower court’s order that USAID must disburse funds to contractors for work already completed. The ruling followed Trump’s executive order pausing foreign assistance for a 90-day review.
Carolyn Shapiro urged the judge to focus not on the personal hardships USAID contractors might experience but on what she described as the broader, irreparable harm stemming from the government’s “structurally unconstitutional decision-making.” She warned that denying the requested temporary relief could lead to a “Humpty Dumpty”-like situation in which USAID, once dismantled, could not be restored.
However, the judge ruled Thursday that such concerns amounted to “generalized grievances” and did not meet the high bar required to justify the temporary relief sought.
