American Foreign Service Ass’n v. Trump

In the weeks after the 2025 inauguration, President Trump and his administration took a series of actions to dismantle the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). These actions have generated a global humanitarian crisis by abruptly halting the crucial work of USAID employees, grantees, and contractors. And they have cost thousands of American jobs, and imperiled U.S. national security interests. Moreover, the dismantling of USAID was not authorized by Congress and is inconsistent with statutes establishing and funding USAID. On February 6, 2025, we filed a lawsuit on behalf of American Foreign Service Association and the American Federation of Government Employees, co-counseling with Democracy Forward, seeking a court order reversing these unlawful actions and halting any further steps to dissolve the agency.

On February 7, we filed a motion for a temporary restraining order. By orders dated February 7 and 13, the judge granted the motion in part and enjoined the defendants from putting employees on leave or involuntarily evacuating from their host countries, through February 21, as he considers the case further. After briefing on a motion for a preliminary injunction, the judge denied the motion and lifted his earlier order. USAID then terminated the majority of its employees.

On February 13, we filed an amended complaint to add Oxfam America as an additional plaintiff. On March 10, we filed a motion for summary judgment on behalf of all three plaintiffs, seeking a ruling on the merits of our claims that the administration’s actions to dismantle USAID are unconstitutional and violate the Administrative Procedure Act.