U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols chastised President Donald Trump's administration, saying that what has happened at USAID has created a "mess."
Politico legal reporter Kyle Cheney wrote Wednesday that it became clear in court that the administration had no idea what is happening with USAID employees who were abandoned abroad after it conducted mass firings.
On Feb. 10, Trump's appointee to manage USAID, Peter Marocco, said in a sworn statement that those overseas would be given a "choice" and an "option" to remain in their posts with existing benefits despite being put on administrative leave, Cheney wrote.
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Then, just four days later, he changed his mind, saying an employee “who is directed to depart post and fails to do so” would no longer be “officially stationed overseas." He further told the staffers that they could lose access to the benefits given to foreign service workers.
“This is a mess!” Nichols announced in the hearing.
The Marocco statement contradicted the "crystal clear" understanding from the last hearing, he argued.
"Nichols’ consternation comes as he considers whether to further extend his legal block on the Trump administration’s plans to abruptly dismantle USAID — the agency responsible for administering billions of dollars in foreign assistance — and 'repatriate' thousands of workers living abroad within 30 days," wrote Cheney. "He ordered the Justice Department to submit a new declaration by noon Thursday clarifying its position on overseas employees."
In the case of the pregnant wife of a foreign service worker, the stress of not knowing what was happening sent the wife to the hospital, an affidavit said.
"Because of these medical complications, she was told she needed to immediately evacuate because of a high risk of hemorrhage, which would be life-threatening to both my wife and our baby," the man said in the affidavit. "The embassy medical unit concurred with our local physicians's direction that she needed to urgently depart and they requested an urgent medical evacuation approval through State Foreign Programs/State Med Washington."
They were denied twice, "with a message from State Med stating that 'there is no USAID funding for medevacs.'"
"I later learned that there was a verbal directive from State Department Washington leadership to Regional Medical Officers and the Medical Evacuations Team to cease all USAID medical evacuations, hospitalization support, and guarantees of payment for urgent medical service," the affidavit read.
Nichols temporarily suspended the firings — a hold has been in place for the past several weeks but was set to expire Friday.
A Trump Justice Department attorney promised the judge that the department would "do better going forward" and would reinstate emergency flights for USAID employees.
