The American Foreign Service Association, which represents foreign service officers, and the American Federation of Government Employees, a union for civil servants, sued the Trump administration late Thursday, arguing that the president could not unilaterally close down the agency.

A judge temporarily stopped the Trump administration from putting over 2,000 staff at the U.S. Agency for International Development on paid leave, part of a gambit to shut down the aid agency—the latest in a slew of legal actions as Democrats and others fight President Donald Trump and cost-cutter czar Elon Musk in court.

In a brief note posted on the international development agency's website, almost all employees were told they would be put on leave. The note ended with the words, "Thank you for your service."