WASHINGTON, Feb 8: A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from putting 2,200 US-based employees of the US Agency for International Development on paid leave, German media outlet Deutsche Welle (DW) reported.
According to DW, US District Judge Carl Nichols in Washington said he would issue the order in light of a lawsuit by the largest US government workers' union and an association of foreign service workers.
Both sued on Thursday to stop the administration's attempts to dismantle the agency.
In a notice to the foreign aid agency's workers on Thursday, the administration said it would keep on board 611 essential workers out of a global labor force of more than 10,000, reported DW.
"The major reduction in force, as well as the closure of offices and the forced relocation of these individuals, was all done more than the executive’s authority in violation of the separation of powers," lawyer for the unions Karla Gilbride told the hearing, DW said in its report.
Trump's administration has claimed, without providing evidence, that the aid agency is rife with fraud.
The gutting of USAID, which supports humanitarian programs in some of the world's poorest countries, has largely been overseen by the world's richest man, Elon Musk, according to DW.