Free Republic

Ever wonder what drives a federal judge to order planes full of illegal immigrants, whom are gang members such as MS13 and Tren De Aragua, to turn back? Maybe it’s because his wife runs a NGO funded by USAID, and his daughter Katherine works for Partners for Justice — a group that serves legal support to those very same criminals, thanks to 76% of their cash flow coming from Uncle Sam! This organization is like an anti-deportation cheer squad and even boasts about having knocked off 5,000 years of prison time since 2018. So, when investigative journalist Laura Loomer started...

A federal judge grilled Trump administration lawyers Friday over the deportation of Venezuelan nationals to El Salvador despite an earlier court order explicitly blocking the move. It was the latest in a legal dispute that could reach the Supreme Court. During a motion hearing, U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg questioned Deputy Assistant Attorney General Drew Ensign about why the Trump administration failed to comply with an emergency court order that temporarily blocked its use of the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan nationals, including alleged members of the gang Tren de Aragua, from U.S. soil for 14 days....

Amid the growing battle between President Donald Trump and the courts, a once-unthinkable question is harder to shrug off: Will the administration deliberately defy federal judges if it doesn’t get what it wants? The issue has come into sharp relief in the challenge to the administration’s deportation of Venezuelan nationals under the purported authority of the Alien Enemies Act. The presiding judge — James Boasberg, chief judge of the federal district court in Washington, D.C. — directed the government from the bench to turn the planes around carrying the deportees. That did not happen, though the administration claims it did...

A federal judge on Thursday temporarily barred Columbia University and Barnard College from complying with a Republican-led House committee's demand for student disciplinary records, at least until a hearing next week. The order comes as U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian prepares to review a request for a temporary restraining order filed by Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil and other students seeking to block the release of their records. Why It Matters Khalil, who was arrested and faces possible deportation over his role in campus protests against Israel, along with other students identified by pseudonyms, sued earlier this month to prevent...

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said that a federal judge who blocked the Trump administration from invoking the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to remove illegal immigrants has “no right” to ask questions on flights carrying deported individuals.U.S. District Judge James Boasberg had given the Trump administration until Tuesday to respond to his questions about deportation flights carrying alleged members of the Tren de Aragua gang, which was designated by the administration as a foreign terrorist organization last month, over the past weekend following an order that he issued to suspend deportations after the administration invoked the 1798 law. He extended...

That escalated quickly. On Thursday, Federal District Court Judge James Boasberg rejected the Trump administration's Justice Department filing about the illegal alien deportation flights to our ally, El Salvador, in what's being characterized as an "angry order." He is threatening to hold them in contempt. As we previously wrote, the judge ordered the planes to turn around mid-flight: As RedState’s Ward Clark reported Saturday, the president invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 against the vicious Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua which has been terrorizing cities across the country—and then the administration sent at least one planeload of members of...

As President Trump and DOGE continue their attempts to dismantle the fraud and waste in our government, there are some judges who think that they can read the minds of both the president and Elon Musk, believing they also possess the power to overrule based on such assumptions, facts be damned. One of the latest cases, from Obama-appointee U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang’s 68-page opinion, via NPR:‘[T]he Court finds that Defendants’ actions taken to shut down USAID on an accelerated basis, including its apparent decision to permanently close USAID headquarters without the approval of a duly appointed USAID Officer, likely...

Judge Reyes’ left-wing track record calls into question her ability to remain impartial on political matters brought before her.The Biden-appointed judge overseeing a lawsuit against the Pentagon’s policy on trans-identifying individuals serving in the military is a prominent donor to Democrat political candidates and causes, The Federalist has learned.On Tuesday, D.C. District Court Judge Ana Reyes granted a request from several trans-identifying service members to place a preliminary injunction on Executive Order 14183 and additional guidance related to the order. Signed by President Donald Trump on Jan. 27, the directive declared that the “medical, surgical, and mental health constraints on...

On February 5, 2025, an officer responded to a “suspicious person with a weapon” call near a Jack-in-the-Box located on the 5900 block of Gulf Freeway. The video does not say what department the officer was with. The address is in downtown Houston, so the officer is probably from the Houston Police Department. The officer noticed a young man and started questioning him. The young man stated he had been inside the Jack-in-the-Box watching his brothers sell “waters” outside. A man, with a knife in hand, had rushed at his brothers. The young man said he had pulled out a...

In a masterful display of executive leadership, President Trump demonstrated exactly why Americans elected him to clean up the mess that the Biden administration left. While the Democrats and their handpicked activist judges continue their love affair with criminal illegal aliens and open borders, Trump took decisive action to protect American communities from violent Venezuelan gang members — and he did it with style. Late Friday night, Trump quietly signed an executive order invoking the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to target members of the notorious Tren de Aragua gang. By Saturday morning, when the news leaked, ICE flights were already...

Plaintiffs cannot use these proceedings to interfere with the President’s national-security and foreign-affairs authority, and the Court lacks jurisdiction to do so. In response to Plaintiffs’ filing (Dkt. 21) and this Court’s order setting a hearing for this afternoon, the government submits the below response. Because it provides the necessary information to confirm the government’s compliance, and represents the full extent of what counsel is authorized to share with the public or Plaintiffs, the Court should vacate the hearing and de-escalate the grave incursions on Executive Branch authority that have already arisen.

A federal judge who temporarily blocked President Trump’s bid to rapidly deport Venezuelan gang members via the 18th century Alien Enemies Act is facing an impeachment push — including by Elon Musk. Shortly after the judge’s temporary order was issued, Rep. Brandon Gill (R-Texas) announced plans to file articles of impeachment against the judge, drawing praise from Musk. “Necessary,” Musk wrote on X after Gill revealed his plans to introduce articles of impeachment against the judge. Earlier in the day Saturday, US District Judge James Boasberg imposed a 14-day restraining order on Trump’s ability to use the 1798-era Alien Enemies...

A federal judge dismissed Hunter Biden’s lawsuit filed against a former Trump administration staffer in California after Biden requested the case end because of his financial difficulties. U.S. district judge Hernan Vera terminated Biden’s lawsuit against Garrett Ziegler Thursday over the public database Ziegler made with emails and images from the younger Biden’s infamous laptop hard drive and iPhone server. An appointee of Hunter Biden’s father, former President Joe Biden, Vera tossed Biden’s legal challenge with prejudice, meaning he cannot bring the lawsuit again at some point in the future “To be clear, the Court does not express any opinion...

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — The Trump Administration agenda was stopped in its tracks this week after a federal judge appointed himself the new President of the United States. "There's nothing we can do," said legal experts. "He's a federal judge." Sources confirmed that Judge Mortimer Dithers of the Northern District of California granted himself all the powers of the executive branch in an emergency move to stop Trump. "Last night, the Constitution appeared to me in a dream and told me to do this," said Judge Dithers. "You can't argue with that. Also, my word is on this is law...

A federal judge on Wednesday signaled that she was deeply skeptical that the Pentagon's handling of transgender service members complies with federal law, grilling a government attorney for hours about the scientific basis for the decision, its impact on military readiness, and the alleged harms to unit cohesion. U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes said she plans to issue a ruling on the policy as early as next week, but appeared to rebuff most of the arguments defending the policy made by a DOJ attorney, who frequently appeared to be at a loss for words regarding how to respond to the...

Documents are disappearing. Classified records are being burned. USAID, once a tool of American foreign influence, is being shut down, and the last thing its leadership seems worried about is transparency. A senior official reportedly ordered employees to shred and destroy key records, an act that critics warn could erase crucial evidence of the agency’s past operations. If this is just routine housekeeping, why the rush? Emails leaked from inside USAID allegedly show an all-day effort to eliminate classified files, with employees stuffing burn bags when shredders weren’t available. Some claim this is standard protocol during a shutdown. Others see...

A federal judge has ruled against the Denver public schools system’s attempts to block immigration officials from carrying out raids on school grounds, marking a win for the Trump administration as it looks to ramp up its deportation efforts. U.S. District Judge Daniel Domenico said Denver Public Schools failed to prove that a recent drop in student attendance at schools was due to the Trump administration reversing a 2021 Biden-era policy of protecting schools — and other sensitive areas like churches — from ICE raids. There are currently more than 1.4 million individuals on ICE's final order of removal docket....

A federal judge on Feb. 24 blocked two agencies from sharing sensitive information with employees of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).“The U.S. Department of Education; Denise L. Carter, the Acting Secretary of Education; and their officers, agents, servants, employees, and attorneys are ENJOINED from disclosing the personally identifiable information of the plaintiffs and the members of the plaintiff organizations to any DOGE affiliates,” U.S. District Judge Deborah L. Boardman wrote in a 33-page order.The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and its employees are also forbidden from disclosing the same information to DOGE workers, the judge said.The temporary restraining order...

In a major ruling, the judge overseeing the case of the man charged with killing four Idaho college students in 2022 has denied a request to exclude potentially key DNA and other evidence from his upcoming capital murder trial. Lawyers for Bryan Kohberger had sought to suppress DNA evidence that was seen as a linchpin of prosecutors' case against him -- evidence they say directly links Kohberger to the crime scene. In addition, lawyers sought to exclude data obtained from various online accounts like Apple, Google and Amazon belonging to Kohberger; his apartment in Washington; and his parents' Pennsylvania home.

Washington -- The White House says billionaire Elon Musk is not technically part of the Department of Government Efficiency team that is sweeping through federal agencies but is rather a senior advisor to President Donald Trump. Musk’s exact role could be key in the legal fight over DOGE’s access to government data as the Trump administration moves to lay off thousands of federal workers. Defining him as an advisor rather than the administrator in charge of day-to-day operations at DOGE could help the administration as it pushes back against a lawsuit arguing Musk has too much power for someone who...