US Court Orders Immediate Halt To Elon Musk Shutdown Of USAID

Washington: A federal judge ordered an immediate halt on Tuesday to the shutdown of the main US aid agency by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Musk and DOGE’s dismantlement of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) “likely violated the United States Constitution in multiple ways,” District Court Judge Theodore Chuang said. Chuang … Read more

US Court Says Trump Shutdown Of USAID Likely Unconstitutional

Washington: A federal court judge said Tuesday that the Trump administration’s shutdown of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) was likely unconstitutional. District Judge Theodore Chuang, ruling in a lawsuit brought by current and former USAID employees, said the move violated the constitutional authority of Congress to decide when and how to close down … Read more

US Official Sought To End Aid For Rohingya Refugees

Washington: The Trump administration official overseeing the dismantling of the main U.S. foreign aid agency proposed phasing out help for crisis-torn Lebanon and the Rohingya, the world’s largest stateless population, according to an email reviewed by Reuters. Written on February 16 by Peter Marocco, the acting USAID deputy administrator, the email provides a window into … Read more

“Reserve Burn Bags”: USAID Employees Ordered To ‘Shred’ Classified Records

An official at the US Agency for International Development has ordered employees to shred a large volume of records, according to a court filing on Tuesday by government employee unions asking a judge to block the move. In a motion filed in Washington, DC, federal court, the unions cited an email from USAID’s acting executive … Read more

US Diplomats Join Letter To Marco Rubio To Protest Dismantling Of USAID

Washington: Hundreds of diplomats at the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development have formally written to Secretary of State Marco Rubio protesting the dismantling of USAID, saying its dismantling undermines U.S. leadership and security and leaves power vacuums for China and Russia to fill. In a cable filed with the department’s internal “dissent … Read more

US Supreme Court Won’t Let Trump Withhold Payment To Foreign Aid Groups

A divided U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to let President Donald Trump’s administration withhold payment to foreign aid organizations for work they already performed for the government as the Republican president moves to pull the plug on American humanitarian projects around the world. Handing a setback to Trump, the court in a 5-4 decision … Read more

USAID Official Warns Of “Preventable Deaths” From Donald Trump’s Foreign Aid Block

A senior official with the U.S. Agency for International Development in an email on Sunday warned that the Trump administration’s dismantling of the agency will result in unnecessary deaths — only to email his staff less than 30 minutes later to say that he had been placed on leave. Nicholas Enrich, USAID’s acting assistant administrator … Read more

India’s First Clinics For Transgenders Close After Trump’s USAID Freeze: Report

India’s first three clinics for the transgender community closed last month following a stop-work order from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) that funded them, disrupting services for nearly 5,000 people, Reuters reported quoting two sources. US President Donald Trump ordered a 90-day pause on all foreign aid in January pending a review to … Read more

US Cuts Overseas Development Program Budgets By More Than 90%: State Dept

The United States has dramatically cut the budgets of overseas development and aid programs, with multi-year contracts pared down by 92 percent, or $54 billion, the State Department said Wednesday.On his first day in office, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order demanding a freeze on all US foreign aid for 90 days. The … Read more

USAID Workers Say Goodbye To Headquarters As Trump Cuts Foreign Aid

US Agency for International Development workers were allowed to briefly reenter the headquarters in Washington on Thursday to collect their personal belongings and clear out their desks, a day after President Donald Trump’s administration said it was cutting more than 90% of the agency’s aid contracts. Trump ordered a 90-day pause on all foreign aid … Read more

“15 Minutes To Take Your Belongings From DC Office”: Ex-USAID Staff Told

New Delhi: The US Agency for International Development (USAID) staff will be “escorted” to their workstations and given “15 minutes” to retrieve personal belongings from their Washington DC headquarter later this week. On its website, the agency published the “specific instructions” that former employees must adhere to reclaim personal belongings from the Ronald Reagan Building … Read more

Donald Trump Fires 1,600 USAID Employees, Others On Paid Leave

Washington: President Donald Trump’s administration on Sunday said it was placing all personnel at the foreign assistance agency USAID, except leaders and critical staff around the world, on paid administrative leave and eliminating 1,600 positions in the United States. Just before midnight on Sunday US Eastern Time, all United States Agency for International Development direct … Read more