In case you're not already suffering from media/legal whiplash, here's another story that may snap your head. As DOGE has been making efforts to streamline the government, and as the operations and expenditures of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) have faced significant scrutiny, the Trump administration announced earlier this week that several thousand agency employees would be placed on administrative leave, effective 11:59 p.m. Friday.

In response, the American Foreign Service Association and the American Federation of Government Employees sued the administration and sought a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction of the administration's announced actions. 

A hearing on the matter was held before District of Columbia U.S. District Court Judge Carl Nichols on Friday, after which Nichols announced that he intends to enter a "limited" restraining order ahead of the deadline.

A federal judge on Friday said he will pause a midnight deadline for the U.S. Agency for International Development to be stripped down to a few hundred workers from a workforce of more than 5,000.

U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols made the announcement from the bench after a hearing at a federal courthouse in Washington, D.C.

Nichols said he would be entering a “very limited” temporary restraining order before midnight, “that will be directed at the placement of the 2,200 or 2,700 employees on administrative leave, and then the accelerated removal of people from their countries.”

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Affidavits from affected USAID employees were included with the Motion for Restraining Order and present some pretty compelling arguments as to how the employees would be significantly adversely impacted were they placed on administrative leave on such short notice. (This is particularly true of workers based overseas and those with immediate health concerns, such as third-trimester pregnancy.)

Lawyers for USAID workers say this essentially means employees will, within hours, be cut off from government systems, including or people in "war-ravaged" areas who rely on security updates. It will also imperil partner organizations who depend on those workers.

— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) February 7, 2025

Lawyer for USAID workers: "Families are being separated if one person needs to leave and the rest of the family stays in-country. Children are being pulled out of school in the middle of the school year … people are being cut off from their access to health care … people are…

— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) February 7, 2025

While the hearing was going on, signs in D.C. in and around USAID were being taken down. 

Signs outside US Agency for International Development being removed and taped over. pic.twitter.com/Lt6rAP20Sf

— Libbey Dean (@LibbeyDean_) February 7, 2025

The DOGE team shared its own perspective on the matter. 

Unburdened by what has been. pic.twitter.com/NK2bcK3hlH

— Department of Government Efficiency (@DOGE) February 7, 2025

Judge Nichols has not yet entered the order, but RedState will continue to monitor the case and provide an update once the order is issued.