Two major US federal employee unions filed a lawsuit Thursday challenging President Donald Trump’s systematic dismantling of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which the complaint claims has triggered a global humanitarian crisis.

Established by President John F. Kennedy in 1961, USAID had served as America’s primary foreign assistance organization for over six decades. With focuses on economic development, public health, education and humanitarian relief, USAID had been managing aid programs in upwards of 100 countries. According to Pew Research, in fiscal year 2023, USAID distributed nearly $44 billion in foreign aid, accounting for about three-fifths of total US aid spending that year. Smaller aid disbursements were made by the US State Department (about $21.3 billion), the Departments of the Treasury and Health and Human Services, and a smattering of other agencies. While supporters of USAID’s work argue it has played a pivotal role in advancing US soft power initiatives over the decades, critics have for decades questioned the quantity and necessity of US foreign aid spending. These criticisms reached a boiling point during the 2024 presidential campaign, with Trump frequently arguing the US should prioritize domestic spending.

Immediately upon reentering office last month, Trump issued an executive order pausing nearly all foreign assistance for 90 days. The order was followed by stop-work directives that halted aid programs around the world. On February 3, recently appointed Secretary of State Marco Rubio was named acting administrator of USAID. Days later, tech billionaire Elon Musk and members of the newly established Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) reportedly accessed classified USAID systems without proper clearance. Security officials who objected were placed on administrative leave. Musk posted that he spent the weekend “feeding USAID into the wood chipper.”

As of the time of writing, USAID’s website is mostly down, its homepage simply notifying visitors: “On Friday, February 7, 2025, at 11:59 pm (EST) all USAID direct hire personnel will be placed on administrative leave globally, with the exception of designated personnel responsible for mission-critical functions, core leadership and specially designated programs. Essential personnel expected to continue working will be informed by Agency leadership by Thursday, February 6, at 3:00pm (EST).”

The complaint was filed by the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA), which represents some 80% of members of the US Foreign Service, including nearly 2,000 USAID Foreign Service Officers, as well as the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), a federal union representing some 800,000 federal civilian employees. The plaintiffs are seeking a temporary pause and a reversal of the Trump administration’s moves to close the agency, arguing the latter has been carried out in the absence of proper checks and balances:

Not a single one of [the Trump administration’s] actions to dismantle USAID were taken pursuant to congressional authorization. And pursuant to federal statute, Congress is the only entity that may lawfully dismantle the agency. … [Plaintiffs] seek a temporary restraining order directing Defendants to reverse these unlawful actions and to halt any further steps to dissolve the agency until the Court has an opportunity to more fully consider the issues on the merits.

In the complaint, the plaintiffs warn that the USAID’s targeting has already had a profound humanitarian impact, including claiming that as a direct result of the stop-work orders, “300 babies that would not have had HIV, now do,” and that “halting USAID work has shut down efforts to prevent children from dying of malaria, stopped pharmaceutical clinical trials, and threatened a global resurgence in HIV.”

In a statement, AFSA president Tom Yazdgerdi discussed the consequences of the USAID turmoil for employees and for global stability more broadly: “The dismantling of USAID including its Foreign Service members has thrown dedicated public servants—and their families—into chaos and uncertainty. These professionals have spent their careers advancing America’s interests abroad, only to find their livelihoods upended overnight. … The consequences of this disruption go far beyond individual careers—it weakens U.S. leadership and undermines global stability worldwide. AFSA will continue to defend its members and pursue all options to protect this essential workforce.”

Plans by Trump and Musk to shutter the agency have been met with broad resistance beyond the lawsuit as well.

Brookings Institution senior fellow George Ingram argued in a recent analysis that folding USAID into the State Department at the behest of the executive branch would violate federal law in addition to undermining the effectiveness of US development goals. Ingram points to the Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998, which merged several agencies into the State Department while establishing USAID as an independent agency that receives foreign policy guidance from the Secretary of State. He also refers to the 2024 Foreign Operations Appropriations Act, Section 7036 of which states that Congress prohibits the: “reorganization, redesign, or other plan described in subsection (b) by the Department of State, the United States Agency for International Development, or any other Federal department, agency, or organization funded by this Act without prior consultation by the head of such department, agency, or organization with the appropriate congressional committees.” In addition, Ingram argued that while both the State Department and USAID aim to advance US interests abroad, they operate on fundamentally different timelines and require distinct skill sets — with State focused on immediate diplomatic relations and USAID managing long-term development programs that require advanced technical expertise in areas like healthcare and agriculture.