Federal Employee Unions Sue Trump Administration for Dismantling USAID
Two federal employee unions seek to reverse actions dismantling USAID and halt further attempts to do so.
Published by The Lawfare Institute
in Cooperation With
On Feb. 6, the American Foreign Service Association and the American Federation of Government Employees sued President Donald Trump, the Department of State, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Treasury Department, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent.
Plaintiffs allege that the Trump administration has—without congressional authorization—“systematically dismantled” USAID through “a series of unconstitutional and illegal actions,” creating a global humanitarian crisis and jeopardizing national security.
Plaintiffs contend that only Congress has authority to dismantle USAID and that the administration’s actions violate the Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998 and the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2024 (Appropriations Act). Plaintiffs note that the Appropriations Act “appropriated funds for USAID as an independent agency” and “explicitly restricted the ability of the executive branch to reorganize USAID.”
Plaintiffs request that the court issue a temporary restraining order directing the defendants to “reverse these unlawful actions and to halt any further steps to dissolve the agency.”
Read the lawsuit here or below.
