For more than five weeks, the Trump administration has been working to take apart the United States Agency for International Development, through layoffs and contract terminations. On Wednesday, the Supreme Court weighed in on a piece of those efforts, rejecting President Trump’s emergency request to freeze nearly $2 billion in already completed foreign aid work.
Here are the major actions by the administration and the courts, as well as their effects on the agency’s work force, since Mr. Trump took office.
Executive and Legal Actions
Jan. 20
President Trump issues an executive order halting foreign aid programs pending a 90-day review.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio issues a temporary waiver to allow for lifesaving aid activities to continue.
Feb. 4
More than a thousand more employees are put on leave, and the agency announces nearly all workers will be on leave soon. Staffers are not allowed to report to the agency’s headquarters.
A federal judge temporarily halts the layoffs, ruling that some of the agency employees on leave must be reinstated.
Feb. 10-11
Aid recipients and other nonprofits filetwo lawsuits to challenge the aid freeze.
Feb. 12
Agency employees say that lifesaving aid remains halted despite the waiver, because of obstacles such as the shutdown of the agency’s payment system.
Feb. 13
A second federal judge issues a temporary order prohibiting Trump officials from ending or pausing payments for contracts in place before Jan. 20.
Feb. 19
Aid groups report that the administration is not abiding by the order and file an emergency motion to enforce it.
Feb. 21
The federal judge in the lawsuit to halt firings says that the Trump administration can proceed with plans for massive layoffs.
Feb. 23
An additional 2,000 agency employees are fired, and thousands more are put on leave.
Feb. 25
The federal judge in the lawsuit to reinstate foreign aid orders the administration to pay nearly $2 billion in already completed aid work, setting a deadline for midnight the next day.
Feb. 26
The administration asks the Supreme Court to intervene, and Chief Justice John Roberts cancels the lower court’s deadline. Separately, officials reveal in court documents that they have completed their review of all foreign aid and will terminate 6,000 U.S.A.I.D. awards, about 90 percent of the agency’s work.
March 2
Internal agency memos leak detailing the human costs of cuts to foreign aid, and blaming the administration and agency leadership for blocking lifesaving aid programs. The whistleblower, an acting assistant administrator, is put on leave.
March 5
The Supreme Court rejects Trump’s request to freeze nearly $2 billion in foreign aid payments for already completed work through U.S.A.I.D. and the State Department.
What Happened at U.S.A.I.D.
Jan. 20
President Trump issues an executive order halting foreign aid programs pending a 90-day review.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio issues a temporary waiver to allow for lifesaving aid activities to continue.
Feb. 4
More than a thousand more employees are put on leave, and the agency announces nearly all workers will be on leave soon. Staffers are not allowed to report to the agency’s headquarters.
A federal judge temporarily halts the layoffs, ruling that some of the agency employees on leave must be reinstated.
Feb. 10-11
Aid recipients and other nonprofits filetwo lawsuits to challenge the aid freeze.
Feb. 12
Agency employees say that lifesaving aid remains halted despite the waiver, because of obstacles such as the shutdown of the agency’s payment system.
Feb. 13
A second federal judge issues a temporary order prohibiting Trump officials from ending or pausing payments for contracts in place before Jan. 20.
Feb. 19
Aid groups report that the administration is not abiding by the order and file an emergency motion to enforce it.
Feb. 21
The federal judge in the lawsuit to halt firings says that the Trump administration can proceed with plans for massive layoffs.
Feb. 23
An additional 2,000 agency employees are fired, and thousands more are put on leave.
Feb. 25
The federal judge in the lawsuit to reinstate foreign aid orders the administration to pay nearly $2 billion in already completed aid work, setting a deadline for midnight the next day.
Feb. 26
The administration asks the Supreme Court to intervene, and Chief Justice John Roberts cancels the lower court’s deadline. Separately, officials reveal in court documents that they have completed their review of all foreign aid and will terminate 6,000 U.S.A.I.D. awards, about 90 percent of the agency’s work.
March 2
Internal agency memos leak detailing the human costs of cuts to foreign aid, and blaming the administration and agency leadership for blocking lifesaving aid programs. The whistleblower, an acting assistant administrator, is put on leave.
March 5
The Supreme Court rejects Trump’s request to freeze nearly $2 billion in foreign aid payments for already completed work through U.S.A.I.D. and the State Department.
For now, the case over frozen aid payments will proceed in the lower court, which the Supreme Court said should clarify what the government must do while taking into account what is feasible. Those instructions suggest the casecould return to the Supreme Court.
But much of what undergirds the practical future for the agency remains in limbo: Most of the agency’s workers are on leave or fired, as are staff workers at many of its partner organizations. And a majority of its contracts and awards have been terminated, leaving only about one-tenth of its former total number intact.
