Today, Oxfam America, an organization that fights inequality to end poverty and injustice, joined the American Foreign Service Association and the American Federation of Government Employees in their lawsuit to defend USAID and U.S. foreign assistance from the Trump administration’s illegal assault. The three organizations are represented in the case by lawyers at Public Citizen Litigation Group and Democracy Forward Foundation. The administration’s attack on USAID has cut off lifesaving support including food, water, medicine, sanitation and more, and is already having life or death consequences for millions around the world.
As the complaint explains, by imposing stop work orders, freezing funding, putting staff on leave or terminating them entirely, and other actions, the Trump Administration has cost thousands of Americans their jobs and threatened U.S. national security interests. Oxfam America is joining this suit to emphasize how the suspension of foreign assistance has exacerbated existing humanitarian crises and placed an inordinate burden on it and other humanitarian organizations to make up a $63 billion shortfall. Without U.S. foreign assistance, millions of people could be left without clean water, sanitation services, medicine, education, shelter, protection, or other essential emergency relief in disaster and conflict areas around the world. Oxfam America’s partners and other humanitarian organizations will lose funding, our resources will be overstretched, and services that only USAID can offer will be permanently shut down.
Closing USAID without congressional authorization is unconstitutional: the President does not have the authority to dismantle an agency created by Congress. In addition to violating the separation of powers, shuttering USAID contravenes the Appropriations Act, which explicitly restricts the ability of the executive to reorganize USAID, and requires any attempt to terminate funding to receive approval from Congress.
“The Trump administration’s illegal assault on USAID is already having life-threatening, wide-ranging impacts, particularly on the millions of people around the world who are living through unimaginable crisis and who rely on urgent action to survive,” said Abby Maxman, President and CEO of Oxfam America. “Oxfam America, like every organization and corner of the aid sector, is affected by this – whether directly by U.S. funding being cut, UN funds being impacted, or as resources and priorities are forced to change due to this new and uncertain reality. A president cannot unilaterally overturn the Constitution or U.S. law in order to shut down federal agencies. We need critical programs to go forward with all the necessary resources, and we need the U.S. to keep playing a leading role in saving lives around the world.”
“The illegal and immoral attempt to dismantle USAID would have grave impacts across the globe,” said Lauren Bateman, attorney at Public Citizen Litigation Group. “Without court intervention, the actions of the Trump administration will have deadly consequences for millions, while undermining the constitutional role of Congress in establishing and funding the agency.”
The Trump administration’s attack on USAID is part of a coordinated campaign to undermine the will of Congress and isolate America in the world,” said Skye Perryman, President and CEO of Democracy Forward. “This will make Americans at home and abroad less safe.”
Find the complaint here.
Oxfam America fights inequality to end poverty and injustice. We offer lifesaving support in times of crisis and advocate for economic justice, gender equality, and climate action. We demand equal rights and equal treatment so that everyone can thrive, not just survive. The future is equal. Join us at oxfamamerica.org.
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