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U.S. NEWS Tuesday 11 February 2025

USAID is stripped of its lease and staffers turned away from DC headquarters

By ELLEN KNICKMEYER been hit hardest so far.
Associated Press The president signed an
WASHINGTON (AP) — Of- executive order freezing
ficials and federal officers foreign assistance, forcing
turned away scores of U.S. U.S.-funded aid and devel-
Agency for International opment programs world-
Development staffers who wide to shut down and lay
showed up for work Monday off staff. Secretary of State
at its Washington headquar- Marco Rubio had sought
ters, after a court temporarily to mitigate the damage by
blocked a Trump administra- issuing a waiver to exempt
tion order that would have emergency food aid and
pulled all but a fraction of “life-saving” programs.
workers off the job world- The Norwegian Refugee
wide. Council, one of the largest
The Trump administration humanitarian groups, called
confirmed to The Associated the U.S. cutoff the most dev-
Press that it had taken USAID astating in its 79-year history
off the lease of the building, and said Monday that it will
which it had occupied for have to suspend programs
decades. serving hundreds of thou-
USAID’s eviction from its sands of people in 20 coun-
headquarters marks the lat- tries. “The impact of this will
est in the swift dismantling of Priya Kathpal, right, and Taylor Williamson, who work for a company doing contract work for be felt severely by the most
the aid agency and its pro- the United States Agency for International Development, or USAID, carry signs outside the USAID vulnerable, from deeply ne-
headquarters in Washington, Monday, Feb. 10, 2025.
grams by President Donald Associated Press glected Burkina Faso, where
Trump and his billionaire we are the only organization
ally, Elon Musk. Both have front desk officer Monday are you here?” had been removed from supplying clean water to
targeted agency spending that he had a list of no more USAID staff were denied en- the lease and the building the 300,000 trapped in the
that they call wasteful and than 10 names of people al- try to their offices to retrieve would be repurposed for blockaded city of Djibo, to
accuse its work around the lowed to enter the building. belongings and were told other government uses. war-torn Sudan, where we
world of being out of line with Tarps covered USAID’s inte- the lease had been turned Even as Trump and Musk, support nearly 500 bakeries
Trump’s agenda. rior signs. over to the General Services who runs what is billed as a in Darfur providing daily sub-
A steady stream of agency A man who earlier identified Administration, which man- cost-cutting Department of sidized bread to hundreds of
staffers — dressed in business himself as a USAID official ages federal government Government Efficiency, have thousands of hunger-stricken
clothes or USAID sweatshirts took a harsher tone, telling buildings. A GSA spokesper- taken aim at other govern- people,” the group said in a
or T-shirts — were told by a staffers “just go” and “why son confirmed that USAID ment agencies, USAID has statement. q

Judge finds Trump administration hasn’t fully followed his order to unfreeze federal spending

By LINDSAY WHITEHURST low his temporary restraining caused and continues to and tax package. Barack Obama, said his or-
Associated Press over halting its plans for a cause irreparable harm to a But McConnell, who is der blocked the administra-
WASHINGTON (AP) — A fed- sweeping freeze of federal vast portion of this country.” based in Rhode Island and tion from a wide range of
eral judge found Monday funding. The administration has said was nominated by President funding cuts. q
that the Trump administra- The White House did not it was making good-faith
tion hasn’t fully followed immediately respond to a efforts to comply with the
his order to unfreeze fed- message seeking comment. judge’s ruling in a lawsuit
eral spending and told the The judge said his temporary filed by nearly two dozen
White House to release all restraining order also blocks states. But the Justice De-
the money. the administration from cut- partment also argued that
U.S. District Court Judge ting billions of dollars in grant his ruling only applied to a
John McConnell ruled that funding from the National sweeping spending freeze
continued struggles to get Institutes of Health. outlined in a late January
federal money for things like “These pauses in funding memo that has since been
early childhood education, violate the plain text of the rescinded.
pollution reduction and HIV (temporary restraining or- The ruling doesn’t apply to
prevention research vio- der),” he wrote. “The broad other spending pauses out-
lated his Jan. 31 order. He categorical and sweeping lined in different memos, in- President Donald Trump speaks to reporters aboard Air Force
ordered the Trump adminis- freeze of federal funds is, cluding funds that were part One as he prepares to sign a proclamation declaring Feb. 9
Gulf of America Day as he travels from West Palm Beach, Fla.
tration to “immediately take as the Court found, likely of President Joe Biden’s sig- to New Orleans, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025.
every step necessary” to fol- unconstitutional and has nature climate, health care Associated Press