Scandal in the USA: unions sue Trump over USAID shutdown
Unions representing American diplomats and USAID employees have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, demanding a halt to the agency's liquidation and the unfreezing of aid.
Photo: William Brehm, CC BY 2.0
On Thursday evening, unions representing diplomats and employees of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) filed a lawsuit in Washington’s federal court against the Trump administration.
They demand that the administration’s attempts to shut down the agency and freeze financial aid be declared illegal.
According to the plaintiffs, USAID’s liquidation has led to a global humanitarian crisis, the loss of thousands of jobs in the U.S., and a threat to national security. They argue that dissolving the agency requires congressional approval and that the administration's actions violate the law.
The lawsuit calls for an immediate halt to mass layoffs, the restoration of funding, and the resumption of the agency’s operations.
However, the State Department has already approved a list of employees who will remain in service: out of 600 proposed candidates, fewer than 300 were accepted.
USAID employees describe the situation as catastrophic. The Middle East department will be left with just 21 staff members after the mass layoffs, while the Africa bureau will have only 12.
Agency workers, speaking anonymously out of fear of retaliation, say that such a drastically reduced workforce will be unable to perform even basic tasks.
Notably, on February 3, 2025, a new scandal surrounding the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) emerged, with information published on the White House’s website.
For decades, the agency—funded by the U.S. budget—has spent millions of dollars on projects of questionable effectiveness and moral justification.
Recent expenditures include $1.5 million to promote workplace inclusivity in Serbia, $70,000 for a DEI-themed musical in Ireland, and $47,000 for a "transgender opera" production in Colombia.
In Latin America, USAID allocated $2 million for gender transition surgeries and LGBTQ activism in Guatemala, while in Peru, it funded the release of a "transgender comic book" for $32,000.
Particularly controversial are reports that hundreds of millions of dollars were spent on irrigation systems and fertilizers in Afghanistan, which experts argue have facilitated heroin production controlled by the Taliban.
Furthermore, the Trump administration asserts that USAID has funded EcoHealth Alliance, which has been linked to virus research at the Wuhan laboratory.
Donald Trump’s administration has already announced its intention to put an end to such spending, promising strict reforms within USAID.
Previously, it was reported that the White House intends to cancel subscriptions to Politico, which have cost millions of dollars, as part of Trump’s initiative to reduce government expenditures, according to the press secretary.
Additionally, it was revealed that the U.S. Postal Service has suspended the acceptance of packages from China following Trump’s new tariffs, which eliminated duty-free imports of low-cost goods.