USAID Employee Unions’ Case Dismissed for Lack of Standing

US Agency for International Development employee groups had their lawsuit against the Trump administration dismissed Friday, with a federal judge finding that their claims spanned too far outside the realm of personnel issues.

Judge Carl Nichols of the US District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed the case brought by four organizations—American Federation of Government Employees, American Foreign Service Association, Personal Services Contractor Association, and Oxfam America—who represent employees and contractors affected by the Trump administration’s move to dismantle the government agency.

Nichols didn’t consider the merits of the case, instead finding that three of the organizations lacked standing to challenge the many discrete actions involved in dismantling USAID that went beyond personnel-related injuries. Meanwhile, personnel-related injury claims must be dealt with through administrative review, he said.

Oxfam America, a humanitarian organization, lacks standing altogether, Nichols found. He denied motions for summary judgment and for a preliminary injunction.

“Here, by contrast, AFSA, AFGE, and PSCA seek declaratory and injunctive relief that spans far beyond, and thus would not redress, the personnel-related injuries they have alleged. That is what limits their standing to sue,” he said.

The case stems from a lawsuit filed in February as the Trump administration was placing 2,200 USAID workers on leave.

At the outset of the case, Nichols issued a limited and temporary freeze on the administration’s actions, but ultimately lifted that pause.

Public Citizen Litigation Group and Democracy Forward Foundation represent the unions.

The case is Am. Fed’n of Gov’ Employees v Trump, D.D.C., No. 1:25-cv-00352, 7/25/25.