Latest news with #JudicialSystem
Associated Press
a day ago
- Politics
- Associated Press
Federal judge halts the Trump administration from dismantling the US African Development Foundation
A federal judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from dismantling a U.S. federal agency that invests in African small businesses. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in Washington, D.C., ruled that Trump violated federal law when he appointed Pete Marocco the new head of the U.S. African Development Foundation, or USDAF, because Marocco was never confirmed by Congress. As a result, Marocco's actions — terminating most of the agency's employees and effectively ending the agency's grants — are void and must be undone, the judge found. Congress created USADF as an independent agency in 1980, and its board members must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. In 2023, Congress allocated $46 million to the agency to invest in small agricultural and energy infrastructure projects and other economic development initiatives in 22 African countries. On Feb. 19, Trump issued an executive order that said USADF, the U.S. Institute of Peace, the Inter-American Foundation and the Presidio Trust should be scaled back to the minimum presence required by law. Trump also fired the agency's board members and installed Marocco as the board chair. Two USDAF staffers and a consulting firm based in Zambia that works closely with USADF sued on May 21, challenging Marocco's appointment and saying the deep cuts to the agency prevented it from carrying out its congressionally mandated functions. The staffers and consulting firm asked the judge for a preliminary injunction, saying Marocco's 'slash-and-burn approach' threatened to reduce the agency to rubble before their lawsuit is resolved. They said the Federal Vacancies Reform Act prohibited Marocco's appointment to USADF, and that the same law requires that any actions done by an unlawfully appointed person must be unwound. 'This is a victory for the rule of law and the communities that rely on USADF's vital work,' said Joel McElvain, senior legal adviser at Democracy Forward, the organization representing the USDAF staffers and consulting firm in their lawsuit. 'We will continue fighting against these power grabs to protect USADF's ability to fulfill the mission that Congress gave it to perform.' U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro had written in court documents that the Federal Vacancies Reform Act doesn't apply to USADF, and that the president has the authority to designate acting members of the agency's board until the Senate confirms his nominees. Any claims about the cuts themselves, Pirro said, must be handled in the Court of Federal Claims, not the federal district court. The judge found in a separate case that Trump had the legal authority to fire the previous members of the USADF board. Pirro wrote in court documents in that case that the president also has the legal authority to appoint someone to run the USADF, consistent with Trump's policy goals, until the Senate could confirm his nominees. ___ AP journalist Lisa Baumann in Bellingham, Washington, contributed to this report.
CNN
4 days ago
- Politics
- CNN
SCOTUS limits judges ability to stop Trump
The U.S. Supreme Court handed a blockbuster decision to limit judges' from issuing nationwide injunctions against the Trump administration. Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean of UC Berkeley Law School, weighs in on the court's decision.
Washington Post
4 days ago
- Politics
- Washington Post
Trump says he will move aggressively to undo nationwide blocks on his agenda
An emboldened Trump administration plans to move aggressively to challenge blocks on the president's top priorities, a White House official said, following a major Supreme Court ruling that limits the power of federal judges to issue nationwide injunctions. Government attorneys will press judges to pare back the dozens of sweeping rulings thwarting the president's agenda 'as soon as possible,' said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal deliberations.
Reuters
20-06-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Pro-Palestinian foreigners in US arrested by Trump administration and ordered to be released
WASHINGTON, June 20 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's administration has faced judicial roadblocks while attempting to deport foreign pro-Palestinian students and protesters in the U.S., including on Friday when a judge ordered that Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil be released from immigration custody. Trump has labeled the protesters as antisemitic and extremist sympathizers. Protesters, including some Jewish groups, say the government wrongly conflates their criticism of Israel's assault on Gaza with antisemitism and their advocacy for Palestinian rights with support for extremism. Here are some prominent pro-Palestinian foreigners in the U.S. who were arrested without being charged with a crime, and subsequently ordered to be released by a judge: A prominent figure at Columbia University's pro-Palestinian protests against Israel's war on Gaza, Khalil was arrested by immigration agents in the lobby of his Manhattan university residence on March 8. Khalil, a Palestinian born and raised in a refugee camp in Syria, is a U.S. legal permanent resident and says he was punished for his political speech in violation of the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment, which protects free speech rights. Khalil has previously condemned antisemitism and racism. His wife and son, who was born while Khalil was in prison, are U.S. citizens. In ordering Khalil's release on June 20, U.S. District Judge Michael Farbiarz said the government made no attempt to rebut evidence provided by Khalil's lawyers that he was not a flight risk nor a danger to the public. Columbia University student Mohsen Mahdawi was released from U.S. immigration custody on April 30. Mahdawi, born and raised in a refugee camp in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, was arrested earlier in April as he arrived for an interview for his U.S. citizenship petition. U.S. District Judge Geoffrey Crawford said Mahdawi did not pose a danger to the public and was not a flight risk. The judge drew parallels between the current U.S. political climate and the Red Scare and McCarthyism eras of the last century when thousands were targeted for deportation due to political views. Turkish Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk was released in early May after being held in an immigration detention center for over six weeks. Her lawyers said she was punished for co-authoring an opinion piece in a student newspaper that criticized the school's response to calls by students to divest from companies linked to Israel and to "acknowledge the Palestinian genocide." U.S. District Judge William Sessions said Ozturk, whose arrest video went viral, had raised a substantial claim that the sole reason she was being detained was "simply and purely the expression that she made or shared in the op-ed in violation of her First Amendment rights." A postdoctoral fellow at Georgetown University, Suri was released in mid-May, nearly two months after being taken into custody by federal immigration agents. Suri, who is from India and was on a U.S. student visa, is married to an American citizen who is from Gaza. Suri's lawyer denied the government's allegations that he supported Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.
News.com.au
19-06-2025
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Blake Lively fails in bid to keep Taylor Swift's texts from Justin Baldoni
A judge has denied Blake Lively's motion for a protective order to keep her communications with Taylor Swift regarding It Ends With Us out of Justin Baldoni's hands. In new documents obtained by People magazine, Judge Lewis J Liman denied the order on Wednesday. Baldoni's legal team previously subpoenaed Swift in the ongoing It Ends With Us lawsuit, although the subpoena was later withdrawn. Baldoni's defence then continued to allegedly "demand" access to records of Lively's communications with Swift. The new documents suggest that Baldoni's legal team alleges they have not received access to Swift's communications with Lively, which they now deem necessary to the lawsuit.
