President Donald Trump just secured another major legal win after a federal judge tossed out a lawsuit aimed at stopping his administration from overhauling the U.S. Agency for International Development, also known as USAID.
The ruling clears the way for the administration to continue cutting thousands of government jobs — and legal experts say it could set the stage for more victories in similar cases, The Washington Examiner reported.
The lawsuit was filed back in February by the American Foreign Service Association and the American Federation of Government Employees.
They accused the Trump administration of violating federal employment protections by placing USAID workers on administrative leave with plans to eventually fire them.
They also warned that the cuts could put overseas personnel at risk.
At the time, U.S. District Judge Carl J. Nichols — a Trump appointee — issued a temporary restraining order to halt the layoffs, citing safety concerns. He extended that pause briefly on February 13, but lifted it just over a week later.
In his ruling, Nichols said the court’s role was limited to reviewing employment claims — not ruling on constitutional questions related to the agency’s structure. With the freeze lifted, the Trump administration moved forward.
Roughly 2,000 USAID employees were placed on leave, and only about 600 essential workers were kept on.
Those stationed abroad were offered the chance to return home within 30 days, with all travel costs covered by the government.
Now, with the lawsuit dismissed, the administration is free to continue reshaping the agency. Conservative legal experts say the ruling is significant, especially once it’s appealed — because a circuit court decision could bind all other district courts in Washington, D.C.
However, the fight isn’t over. Other lawsuits challenging the constitutional and funding questions tied to the agency’s future are still moving through the courts.
Those cases will determine whether a president has the power to dismantle an agency created by Congress — and what relief, if any, affected workers are entitled to receive.
Former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama joined U2 frontman Bono this month to console USAID employees and take some final shots at President Donald Trump after the agency was shut down over fraud and mismanagement.
“Gutting USAID is a travesty, and it’s a tragedy,” Obama said in a video message to outgoing staff, The New York Post reported. “Because it’s some of the most important work happening anywhere in the world.”
He called the move “a colossal mistake” and added, “Sooner or later, leaders on both sides of the aisle will realize how much you are needed.”
Bush, Obama, and Bono all appeared via videoconference to speak directly to USAID staff as the agency was officially shuttered following a federal probe into corruption and abuse.
USAID, founded under the Kennedy administration, was created to provide foreign economic aid. But earlier this year, it became one of the first targets of the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, which was established by President Trump to root out government waste. Then-DOGE head Elon Musk slammed the agency as “a viper’s nest of radical-left Marxists who hate America.”
USAID was officially absorbed by the State Department on Tuesday.
In a rare public rebuke, Bush, who has largely avoided criticizing Trump, said the closure ends a major piece of his presidency—the AIDS and HIV relief initiative that is credited with saving 25 million lives around the world.
“You’ve showed the great strength of America through your work—and that is your good heart,” Bush told the staff. “Is it in our national interests that 25 million people who would have died now live? I think it is, and so do you.”
Bono read a poem he wrote to mark the end of the agency, claiming it would lead to widespread suffering. “They called you crooks. When you were the best of us,” he said.
