TRADE unions representing US government workers are suing President Donald Trump’s administration in an effort to stop the foreign assistance agency being closed down.

The Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency launched an assault on the US Agency for International Development (USAid) last week, blocking staff from using internal systems and placing thousands of workers on administrative leave.

The Trump administration reportedly slashed the workforce from more than 10,000 to fewer than 300 employees on Thursday. 

The American Foreign Service Association and American Federation of Government Employees responded by filing a lawsuit against Mr Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, USAid, the State Department and the Department of Treasury to seek an injunctive relief “to immediately cease actions to shut down USAid’s operations.”

In the lawsuit, the unions wrote: “These actions have generated a global humanitarian crisis by abruptly halting the crucial work of USAid employees, grantees, and contractors. They have cost thousands of American jobs. And they have imperilled US national security interests.”

Meanwhile, 10,000 supermarket workers across the greater Denver area went on strike on Thursday, accusing King Soopers of unfair and illegal negotiating practices while their union has been negotiating a new contract with the chain.

Striking workers at 77 King Soopers branches in Louisville, Colorado, urged customers not to cross picket lines.

The Republican-controlled state legislature of Utah decided on Thursday to ban collective bargaining by union representing teachers and other public-sector workers.

Governor Spencer Cox, also a Republican, has not indicated whether he will sign or veto the measure. 

The Utah Education Association, the state’s largest public education employees’ union, has called on Mr Cox to prove his support for teachers by issuing a swift veto.