A judge appointed by Trump in 2019 ruled in support of Trump’s decision to terminate most of the civil servants who work for USAID. The evisceration of USAID will hurt American farmers, who sell billions of dollars of grain and other food to USAID for distribution in poor countries. Meanwhile, the cessation of food and medicine will cause many deaths in needy countries. As some say, when it comes to Trump, the cruelty is the point.

A federal US judge on Friday denied a request from two labor unions that sought to block President Donald Trump’s administration from placing thousands of US Agency for International Development (USAID) employees on administrative leave and recalling many stationed abroad.

Judge Carl Nichols of the US District Court for the District of Columbia acknowledged concerns about widespread terminations but concluded that USAID was “still standing” and thus any harm could be addressed through financial compensation rather than court intervention.

He also noted that federal laws provide domestic USAID employees, or their union representatives, the right to challenge administrative leave decisions, suggesting that the district court likely lacks jurisdiction over the unions’ claims. Judge Nichols further determined that the Trump administration had presented a reasonable justification for its actions, finding that they were “essential to its policy goals.”

He stated:

Weighing plaintiffs’ assertions on these questions against the government’s is like comparing apples to oranges. Where one side claims that USAID’s operations are essential to human flourishing and the other side claims they are presently at odds with it, it simply is not possible for the Court to conclude, as a matter of law or equity, that the public interest favors or disfavors an injunction.

The ruling marks a reversal from Judge Nichols’ earlier decision that temporarily halted the administration’s actions and even reinstated some sidelined employees. Judge Nichols acknowledged that the unions’ constitutional and Administrative Procedure Act challenges to USAID’s dismantling could gain traction over time, but he stated that for now he could only decide on the employment-related claims.