A U.S. foreign service officer has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, blaming the government’s “cruel and harmful shutdown” of USAID for endangering the health of his pregnant wife and unborn child. The lawsuit, filed Monday night, outlines how the officer, identified only as Terry Doe in court documents, faced emotional, financial, and logistical difficulties due to the administration’s attempt to dismantle the agency. He claims these issues put his family in a “life-threatening emergency.”
In an affidavit, Doe described how his wife, who was 31 weeks pregnant after years of infertility treatments, experienced severe complications related to stress. “Because of the stress and strain caused by my employer’s actions in recent weeks, my wife has repeatedly been hospitalized with life-threatening conditions,” Doe explained.
ABC News reached out to the Trump administration for comment but has yet to receive a response.
Doe further revealed that, after doctors recommended a medical evacuation for his wife, both the State Department and USAID denied his requests for assistance, citing a lack of funding for evacuations. It wasn’t until a U.S. senator intervened that Doe was granted permission to evacuate his wife. However, by then, his wife had begun hemorrhaging and had to be hospitalized at their overseas post, where she remains.
Doe emphasized that the stress caused by the shutdown of USAID played a significant role in his wife’s deteriorating health. “The stress on all USAID families since January 20th contributed to her deteriorating medical condition,” he stated. “Now I’m afraid for her and my baby’s health because of this rushed, haphazard and cruel push to shut down the agency. This didn’t have to happen.”
In a separate affidavit, Randall Chester, vice president of a union representing foreign service officers, challenged claims made by Peter Marocco, the acting deputy director of USAID. Chester disputed Marocco’s description of the agency’s evacuation efforts in the Congo as a “success.” He argued that USAID failed to provide adequate support to evacuees, leaving them without the logistical and financial assistance typically provided during such operations.
Chester also pointed out that USAID’s payment system, known as Phoenix, remains inoperable, causing financial strain for foreign service officers. Some evacuees from the Congo reported carrying tens of thousands of dollars in debt because USAID failed to reimburse them for travel, hotels, and meals during the evacuation.
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