A Clinton judge barred the Trump administration last month from executing any large-scale reductions in force in order to “preserve the status quo.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered on Tuesday the termination of the U.S. Agency for International Development’s remaining overseas staff, demonstrating that some obstacles created by meddlesome federal judges can easily be surmounted.
How it started
A gang of labor unions, leftist NGOs, and local governments sued the Trump administration in late April, hoping to block the government’s reduction-in-force plans.
Their complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, suggested that the “president does not possess authority to reorganize, downsize, or otherwise transform the agencies of the federal government, unless and until Congress authorizes such action” and argued that President Donald Trump’s Feb. 11 executive order aimed at “eliminating waste, bloat, and insularity” was unlawful.
‘Every day that the preliminary injunction remains in effect, a government-wide program to implement agency RIFs is being halted and delayed.’
The plaintiffs demanded the court: declare that Trump had violated the Constitution; declare that the White House’s Office of Management and Budget, the Office of Personnel Management, and the Department of Government Efficiency “exceeded statutory authority and acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner”; vacate Trump’s executive order and relevant agency memoranda; and restrain the Trump administration from enforcing Trump’s workforce executive order.
They found a sympathetic U.S. district court judge in Susan Illston, a Clinton appointee who came recommended by former Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer and the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California.
RELATED: USAID program contractor defrauds taxpayers of $100,000 in latest agency scandal
Photo by John Moore/Getty Images
Illston granted the gang of change-averse plaintiffs a temporary restraining order on May 9, then hit the administration with an injunction on May 22, blocking Trump’s executive order and barring 20 executive-branch entities and “any other individuals acting under their authority or the authority of the president” from executing any reductions in force.
Illston stated that “the president likely must request congressional cooperation to order the changes he seeks.”
After the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit refused to overturn the Clinton judge’s order, the Trump administration asked for the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene.
U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer noted in the government’s request for a stay that “every day that the preliminary injunction remains in effect, a government-wide program to implement agency RIFs is being halted and delayed, maintaining a bloated and inefficient workforce while wasting countless taxpayer dollars.”
“The inevitable consequence is to compel federal agencies to keep large numbers of employees on the payroll without necessity, at unrecoverable taxpayer expense, thereby frustrating the government’s efforts to impose budgetary discipline and build a more efficient workforce,” wrote Sauer.
The solicitor general also suggested that the “district court’s novel imposition of limits on the president’s ability to control executive agencies in exercising their power over personnel is the same type of important question of federal law that warrants this Court’s review.”
The gang responded on Monday, asking the high court to keep Illston’s order in place.
How it’s going
On Tuesday, Rubio told American embassies around the world to get cracking on abolishing all USAID positions, noting in a cable obtained by the Guardian that the State Department “is streamlining procedures under National Security Decision Directive 38 to abolish all USAID overseas positions.”
The national security directive cited by Rubio gives the highest-ranking diplomat assigned to a given country control of the size, composition, and mandate of overseas staffing for U.S. government agencies.
‘It shouldn’t surprise anyone.’
All USAID positions will reportedly be erased by Sept. 30. This will impact hundreds of staff, including contractors, locally employed workers, and foreign service officers.
The secretary noted further that the State Department would take over the agency’s foreign assistance programs by next week.
Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told reporters Tuesday “that was not a surprise. It shouldn’t surprise anyone.”
“It’s nothing new, and it is exactly what we previewed in February and March of this year,” said Bruce, adding that the aim of the change is to make sure that America’s aid efforts around the world correspond with the “America First agenda.”
Rubio made the order days after Bill Gates reportedly made a secret visit to the White House and begged him to reverse course on changes to the foreign aid regime.
It appears that Gates’ last-ditch charm offensive, first reported by Tara Palmeri of the Red Letter, was no more effective than his USAID-themed smear campaign, where he characterized Elon Musk as a hard-hearted killer of millions.
The plaintiffs for whom Judge Illston blocked Trump’s executive order claimed that Rubio’s recent action appears to violate the federal court’s injunction, reported the Associated Press.
However, Daniel Holler, Rubio’s deputy chief of staff, clarified in a Monday court filing that the actions taken with regard to USAID staffers predate the blocked Trump order.
Holler noted that:
Rubio got the ball rolling on developing “a plan to reorganize the Department to be more streamlined and to advance the administration’s core America First diplomatic priorities” in late January; Rubio informed Congress of his intention to explore “a potential reorganization of USAID and/or its potential absorption by the Department of State” in a Feb. 3 letter; subsequent reorganization efforts were “undertaken solely at the direction and discretion of Secretary Rubio” and predate Trump’s February order; the reorganization is intended to address foreign policy needs, an assertion that appears to hint at the limits of Illston’s jurisdiction.
When asked about the significance of these firings and the broader cleanup at USAID, a State Department spokesperson told Blaze News, “Under President Trump’s leadership, Secretary Rubio is taking a historic step in realigning how the United States delivers foreign aid and implements its America First Foreign Policy to ensure foreign assistance advances U.S. national interests.”
“In connection with the Department assuming responsibility for limited former USAID programming, the Secretary approved the hiring of certain positions for both American (U.S. direct hire) and locally employed staff,” added the spokesperson.
In terms of next steps, the spokesperson indicated that the U.S. will continue to provide lifesaving humanitarian assistance but noted “the United States cannot feed the world alone. We ask capable nations to increase their share of the burden for life-saving foreign aid.”
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State department, State, Marco rubio, Clinton, Judicial overreach, Judge, District court, San francisco, Susan illston, Foreign policy, Foreign, Tammy bruce, Usaid, U.s. agency for international development, Politics
