Washington, DC – Representative Gregory W. Meeks, Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, issued the following statement in response to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia’s signal it will temporarily halt the Trump Administration’s attempt to shutter the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID): 

“I welcome the court’s indication that it willgrant temporary relief to USAID employees whose lives the Trump Administration has unnecessarily thrown into chaosas President Trump attempts to dismantle the agency and undermine U.S. soft power.  

“I share the court’s concern about the irreparable damage that President Trump’s actions will pose to Americans who serve at USAID if left unchecked. A strong and well-resourced USAID is vital if the United States is to out-compete China, particularly in strategic regions where Beijing and other adversaries seek to expand their influence. Undercutting USAID’s workforce not only jeopardizes America’s national security, it also undermines our humanitarian and development efforts and weakens America’s ability to lead on the world stage. 

“The United States has the best development and humanitarian agency in the world, staffed by thousands of patriotic individuals, and I am relieved that the court has independently recognized the grave consequences to this workforce—andby extension, our national security—of the Administration’s misguided actions. We must remain vigilant in protecting the integrity and mission of USAID from further attempts to weaken it.” 

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