Judge Carl Nichols will temporarily block plans to put some 2,200 employees on paid leave and to recall nearly all agency workers posted abroad.

Some of those put on leave said they had only a minimal connection to diversity or equity efforts.

The Trump administration’s effort to get federal workers to leave their posts could lead to an exodus of experienced employees, some warned.

Agencies are gripped with uncertainty about how to implement the blizzard of new policies as workers frantically try to assess the impact on their lives.

Their lawsuits said the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, President Trump’s cost-cutting operation, violated a law requiring federal advisory committees to include a balance of views.