By Katelyn Polantz and Devan Cole

(CNN) — A federal judge has extended the pause on the Trump administration’s dismantling of USAID for another week after an extensive hearing Thursday.

The case is one of the most significant early tests of President Donald Trump’s power to reduce the federal workforce and shutter an agency.

Judge Carl Nichols of the DC District Court said he will continue to have a court order in place that reinstates USAID workers whom the administration previously placed on paid leave, and blocks the administration from taking further action that potentially could hurt USAID workers, especially those who are stationed in foreign countries that have high security risks, until February 21.

Nichols, who is a 2019 Trump appointee to the trial-level court, hasn’t yet decided on whether he will allow the Trump administration’s plans to dismantle the agency or indefinitely block that from happening. He said he will make a ruling on that question by the end of next week, though his decision is likely to be appealed.

Other cases attempting to challenge the shuttering of USAID are still ongoing in court.

During the three-hour hearing, two courtrooms were filled with foreign aid workers, several who said they were with USAID or worked with the agency as contractors.

Nichols’ questions largely probed what the administration might do next, the ability of foreign aid workers to have recourse if they were hurt by the president’s decisions, and how the government could guarantee the safety of USAID workers abroad if the dismantling goes forward.

“An entire agency is being decimated,” said Karla Gilbride, a lawyer arguing on behalf of unions that represent USAID workers in court. “This is a coordinated and accelerated campaign that is being done without any congressional authority and in contravention of the laws passed by Congress.”

But lawyers representing the administration from the Justice Department told the judge the agency wasn’t being shuttered – it was just being “studied” by the new administration for 90 days.

“Plaintiffs want a federal court to put USAID back to how it was under a previous president’s foreign policy,” DOJ lawyer Eric Hamilton argued.

Government officials have said in court more than 2,000 USAID employees were on paid administrative leave as of February 7, with nearly all in the continental US. And employees in high-risk locations were not placed on administrative leave. Nichols previously had ordered the Trump administration to reinstate USAID workers who were on leave during the early stage of the case.

About 1,400 of the full-time direct hires of USAID work overseas, which is about a quarter of those types of USAID employees, according to the court proceeding.

Central to the case is how the Trump administration can make sure foreign aid workers have security resources available to them when they are in high-risk countries and dangerous situations, like in Congo recently, which has had unrest, causing USAID workers to flee.

Under the administration’s initial moves, employees in those countries could be put on leave, losing access to electronics and communications that could help them. The DOJ lawyers in court Thursday had few specifics about what could be provided to those government employees instead, if they were to lose access to security resources.

This story has been updated with additional details.

The-CNN-Wire
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