US court allows Trump administration to dissolve USAID

Carl Nichols, a federal judge in Washington, DC, who was appointed by Trump during his first term, has denied a request by unions representing USAID employees to indefinitely block the agency’s closure while they file a lawsuit. Observers say the unions are likely to appeal Nichols’ ruling.

This is the latest case where the court must decide whether to block the Trump administration's plans to reduce the number of federal employees, especially employees of agencies that the Trump administration intends to eliminate.

Previously, two other federal judges in Boston (Massachusetts) and Washington DC declared to unions that the court had no responsibility to resolve their efforts to prevent the Trump administration from cutting federal employees, but that this responsibility could belong to the labor board.

The same day, the Pentagon said it would cut at least 5% of its civilian workforce next week, part of President Trump's effort to streamline the federal workforce.

The Trump administration has laid off thousands of federal workers on probation, and the new round of cuts at the Department of Defense — America’s largest employer — will largely focus on new hires.

Darin Selnick, acting undersecretary of defense for personnel, told reporters that the agency plans to cut 5 to 8 percent of its civilian workforce to increase efficiency and reorient the department based on President Trump’s priorities while restoring the military’s readiness. The official said 5,400 probationary employees will be laid off in an initial round of cuts expected to begin next week. The Defense Department will then implement a hiring freeze while it conducts a more thorough analysis of its future workforce needs.

The US Department of Defense currently has more than 900,000 civilian employees, meaning a 5% reduction would impact about more than 45,000 jobs.

Also on February 21, the Trump administration removed Mr. Caleb Vitello, Acting Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), citing disappointment with the level of arrest and deportation of illegal immigrants.

Before being appointed as acting ICE director, Mr. Vitello was the assistant director of the agency’s Office of Firearms and Tactical Programs, and worked closely with top officials in the Trump administration during the first term. Mr. Vitello’s removal comes less than two weeks after two other top ICE officials, Russell Hott and Peter Berg, were also removed and reassigned to other positions within ICE.

A Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson said no replacement has been chosen and that Mr. Vitello will still oversee all ICE operations, including searching, apprehending and deporting illegal immigrants, while emphasizing that this is a “high priority” for President Trump and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.

Vitello’s removal comes amid the Trump administration’s efforts to increase the arrests and deportations of illegal immigrants. The number of illegal immigrants apprehended by ICE increased in Trump’s first weeks in office, but has since declined, and now the number of arrests does not always equal the number of deportations.

Deporting millions of undocumented immigrants was one of President Trump’s top campaign promises. But the plan continues to be plagued by budget, time, staffing, and funding issues.