From Canceled Media Contracts to Lawsuits to Expected Layoffs, the USAID News Continues

As Townhall has been covering throughout this week, Democrats have had a truly terrible time freaking out about the Trump administration’s pause on U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) for review. The situation came to a head in more ways than one on Thursday. 

According to The New York Times, the Trump administration plans to retain only 290 of the 10,000 of USAID employees, citing “three people with knowledge of the planned cuts to the work force,” with the cuts having been announced during a Thursday call. The outlet mentioned the information in a live update that night and also put out a separate piece.

As that article mentioned:

The Trump administration plans to reduce the number of workers at the U.S. Agency for International Development from more than 10,000 to about 290 positions, three people with knowledge of the plans said on Thursday.

The small remaining staff includes employees who specialize in health and humanitarian assistance, the people said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to publicly discuss the cuts.

…

U.S.A.I.D. officials were also told on Thursday that about 800 awards and contracts administered through the agency were being canceled, the three people said.

The moves also came just one day before almost all of the agency’s direct hires, including its roster of Foreign Service officers, will be put on indefinite administrative leave. In addition, almost all contractors will see their work orders terminated. Foreign Service officers will have 30 days to return to the United States.

…

U.S.A.I.D. officials have been bracing for a drastic reduction to their ranks since contractors started being let go last week, just days after the Trump administration announced a sweeping stop-work order for foreign aid.

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In the days since [Monday], nearly all other U.S.A.I.D. employees in the United States were either terminated or put on administrative leave, while the agency’s global work force was told to expect to be put on a similar status by the end of the day Friday.

The article also mentioned a lawsuit from union members representing USAID employees, with the lawsuits coming for Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and the departments:

Two unions representing U.S.A.I.D. employees on Thursday filed a lawsuit over the cuts against President Trump, Mr. Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, along with the agency, the State Department and the Treasury Department. The suit argues that the reduction in personnel and the cancellation of global aid contracts is unconstitutional and violates the separation of powers.

“What we’re seeing is an unlawful seizure of this agency by the Trump administration in a plain violation of basic constitutional principles,” said Robin Thurston, the legal director for Democracy Forward, one of two advocacy organizations that filed the lawsuit on behalf of the American Foreign Service Association and American Federation of Government Employees, adding that the administration had “generated a global humanitarian crisis.”

The suit seeks an injunction to stop the firing and furloughing of employees and dismantling of the agency. It argues that U.S.A.I.D. cannot be unwound without the prior approval of Congress, which passed legislation backing the agency and continues to fund it as a unique entity.

While the lawsuit may argue as much about Congress’ role, something Democrats have screeched about as well, it’s worth reminding that President John F. Kennedy created USAID through executive order, as the archived version of the USAID website even acknowledged.

It’s not only employees affected, though. On Wednesday, it was revealed that POLITICO benefited from USAID subsidies for subscription services, with White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt sharing from the podium that same day that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) would put an end to it. Sure enough, the administration has directed the General Services Administration (GSA) to terminate all media contracts, as Teri Christoph at our sister site of RedState highlighted. 

Meanwhile, as Matt covered earlier on Friday, POLITICO did not take well to the revelations about USAID, putting out a disastrous statement to try to justify POLITICO Pro, even concluding their lengthy statement with “Now, back to work.”