Free Republic

A federal judge in Maryland on Friday ruled that President Donald Trump lacked the authority to fire three Democratic members of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and ordered their reinstatement — teeing up another high-stakes court clash centered on Trump's ability as commander-in-chief to remove or otherwise control the members of independent agencies. U.S. District Judge Matthew Maddox, a Biden appointee, sided with the three ousted members of the board — Mary Boyle, Alexander Hoehn-Saric and Richard Trumka Jr. — in ruling that their firings were unlawful and ordered all three members to be reinstated to their posts. In...

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha is urging NATO leaders to invite Ukraine to join the Western military alliance during a meeting in Brussels next week, according to a letter sent to alliance leaders—reflecting the country's frenzied push to gain membership in the alliance in the final days of Biden's presidency. The letter, first reviewed by Reuters, comes as Ukraine has re-upped its request for NATO membership to help put an end to Russia's war, including a recent uptick in attacks on its energy infrastructure. It also comes as the Biden administration has granted Ukraine new permissions to fight back against...

Ford Motor Co. is planning to cut as many as 8,000 jobs from its internal combustion engine division as it seeks to channel more funding into its electric vehicle division. The cuts, reported by Bloomberg, follow Ford CEO Jim Farley's previously announced plans to cut $3 billion in company costs by 2026, including through employee layoffs, as well as his efforts to restructure the company radically. To that end, Farley has separated Ford into two separate units: “Ford Blue,” which focuses on traditional, industrial combustion engine vehicles, as well as the newer “Model E” division that focuses solely on EV...