The latest legal wranglings over President Donald Trump’s second-term policy seeking to rid the federal government of waste, fraud, and abuse took place on Thursday, with a judge’s ruling to in the process of placing most of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) agency’s employees on leave.

The order temporarily blocking the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) move was set to expire on Friday, but District of Columbia U.S. District Court Judge Carl Nichols ruled that he will move it up a week to Feb. 21. He also modified the prior order in another way:

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Judge Presses Pause on Trump Administration’s Planned Downsize of USAID Workforce

via Fox News:

A D.C. federal judge sided with USAID workers Thursday, granting their request to extend a restraining order that prevents the Trump administration from effectively shutting down the foreign aid agency. 

U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee, said he would extend by one week the temporary restraining order, with plans to issue a final decision on a request to block President Donald Trump’s action on Feb. 21. 

His new order instructs the government to reinstate any USAID employees put on administrative leave and forbids the Trump administration from implementing any new administrative leave on USAID employees.

The ruling came as something of a surprise to some legal observers, including Lawfare senior editor Roger Parloff, who wrote on his X account:

Surprise ending to this hearing. Judge Nichols extends his USAID TRO until 2/21. It prevents USAID from placing more employees on admin. leave (and had already reinstated 2000) https://t.co/r26T7CIjQV

— Roger Parloff (@rparloff) February 13, 2025

During Thursday’s hearing:

Nichols asked plaintiff’s attorneys detailed questions about the impact of a stop work order that placed virtually every USAID employee on leave. 

…

“These are not a few isolated incidents, this is an unprecedented dismantling of a congressionally created agency,” [Karla Gilbride, an attorney for the American Foreign Service Association and the American Federation of Government Employees,] said. Plaintiffs “are being harmed by actions that are unconstitutional… This is a coordinated and unconstitutional effort to dismantle the agency.”

Eric Hamilton, representing the Trump administration DOJ, pushed back at the claims, telling Judge Nichols this entire situation is a “personnel” matter, and “should be handled via the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) appeals process, rather than the federal court system.”

There was also this:

He pointed to a Wednesday night ruling from U.S. District Judge George O’Toole in Massachusetts allowing the – colloquially known as the “fork in the road” resignation offer – to stand, arguing that this action is similar.

We’ll see what happens next on Feb. 21, when the judge is expected to make a final ruling on the case.

You can read the full ruling here.

Just after news of the ruling broke, Elon Musk, whom Pres. Trump has tasked with dismantling the parts of our government that aren’t serving the best interests of the American people, wrote on X:

If ANY judge ANYWHERE can stop EVERY Presidential action EVERYWHERE, we do NOT live in a democracy.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 13, 2025