Free Republic

President Trump has found a powerful but obscure bulwark in the appeals court judges he appointed during his first term. They have voted overwhelmingly in his favor when his administration’s actions have been challenged in court in his current term, a New York Times analysis of their 2025 records shows. Time and again, appellate judges chosen by Mr. Trump in his first term reversed rulings made by district court judges in his second, clearing the way for his policies and gradually eroding a perception early last year that the legal system was thwarting his efforts to amass presidential power. When...

NEW YORK, Jan 9 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Friday temporarily blocked President Donald Trump's administration from freezing access by five Democratic-led states to more than $10 billion of federal funds for child care and family assistance based on what it said were concerns about fraud. U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, an appointee of Democratic former President Joe Biden, said he issued a temporary restraining order for the reasons stated in a legal filing by California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota and New York, which filed the lawsuit. The states sued the Trump administration late on Thursday, two days after the...

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) must stop requiring that grant applications not include terms related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), including the term “pregnant people,” under a new order from a federal judge. U.S. District Judge Ricardo Martinez, based in Seattle, said in the Jan. 5 ruling that plaintiffs in the case provided examples of harm related to instructions on grant applications from HHS. He ordered the government to stop enforcing a requirement that applicants certify they would not “operate any programs that advance or promote DEI ... or discriminatory equity ideology in violation of Federal...

Afederal judge on Thursday disqualified the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of New York and blocked the subpoenas his office issued against New York Attorney General Letitia James. John Sarcone III, the judge ruled, was illegally serving in the post, Politico reported. The decision from the Obama-appointed U.S. District Judge Lorna Schofield marked the latest such opinion over controversial Trump appointees to U.S. Attorney positions. “When the Executive branch of government skirts restraints put in place by Congress and then uses that power to subject political adversaries to criminal investigations... it acts without lawful authority," Schofield wrote. Sarcone had...

In the latest episode of the Deep State circus that’s turned our justice system into a bad joke, a 92-year-old federal judge appointed by none other than Bill Clinton back in the ’90s has been assigned to oversee the high-profile case against Venezuelan socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro in New York. This is the same judge who has a track record of rulings that seem tailor-made to thwart President Trump’s agenda and protect left-wing interests. U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein, who took senior status way back in 2011, but somehow keeps popping up in major cases. He has issued several...

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz pushed back against the ever-growing fraud allegations levied against him in the disastrous aftermath of a viral video where an independent journalist cracked open a crucial part of the alleged Somali aid scheme. A spokesperson for Walz, a Democrat who frequently provokes President Trump’s ire, addressed a bombshell video posted by conservative YouTuber Nick Shirley. “The governor has worked for years to crack down on fraud and ask the state legislature for more authority to take aggressive action. He has strengthened oversight — including launching investigations into these specific facilities, one of which was already closed,”...

Levy went as far as to praise Diaz for illegally crossing the border several times, saying, “I commend you for supporting your family, for expressing your devotion to them and for working here in the United States in jobs that Americans apparently do not want to work in and certainly not for the wages that were undoubtedly abusive of your work for them.”

A federal appeals court on Monday took Judge Boasberg to task and delayed his contempt hearings until 2026. In March Boasberg granted a temporary restraining order (TRO) to stop the Trump administration from deporting thousands of Venezuelan nationals believed to be members of Tren de Aragua (TdA) gang under the Alien Enemies Act. Boasberg then threatened to hold Trump officials in contempt for not bringing some of the world’s most vicious killers, criminals, and rapists back to the United States. Judge Boasberg said he found probable cause to hold the Trump Administration in criminal contempt of court for defying his...

The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday overruled a preliminary injunction from liberal U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani, allowing a federal provision to defund the Planned Parenthood abortion business through Medicaid to take effect and continue during ongoing litigation. The decision, which lifts a temporary block on the funding ban, marks a significant victory for pro-life advocates who have long pushed to redirect taxpayer dollars away from the abortion company. The American Center for Law and Justice, which filed amicus briefs supporting the government’s position, hailed the ruling as a “crucial” step in “defending the sanctity of life...

Tina Peters will remain in state prison during appeal, federal judge rejects bid for release by: Colleen Slevin, Associated PressPosted: Dec 8, 2025 (AP) — A federal magistrate judge on Monday rejected a bid by a former Colorado county clerk to be released from prison while she appeals her state conviction for orchestrating a data breach scheme driven by false claims about voting machine fraud in the 2020 presidential race. Former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters filed a federal lawsuit asking that she be released on bond while her appeal is considered. Attorneys for the state had argued the case...

The Trump administration fired eight immigration judges in New York City on Monday, according to two people with knowledge of the matter. The firings followed an earlier round of job cuts in New York immigration courts and are part of a broader disruption across the country, which is taking place as the president seeks to accelerate deportations. They were confirmed by an official at the National Association of Immigration Judges, a union representing immigration judges, and a Justice Department official who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the matter. The immigration courts are under the control...

Two activist judges with a track record of sabotaging President Trump’s America First agenda have just ghosted a critical Senate hearing aimed at exposing judicial overreach. U.S. District Judge James Boasberg and U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman have both turned down invitations to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee this week at the explosive hearing titled “Impeachment: Holding Rogue Judges Accountable. Their absence should come as no surprise to anyone paying attention. These are not neutral judges, they are political operatives wielding federal robes as weapons against the will of the American people. Judge Boasberg, a Barack Obama appointee, has...

A federal judge on Friday blocked the IRS from giving ICE the home addresses of taxpayers who might be undocumented immigrants — dealing a blow to the Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts. The ruling is a significant victory for immigrant-rights group and liberal activists who are trying to resist the mass deportations that President Donald Trump has made a top priority for the first year of his second term. The Trump administration can appeal the decision, and it has a decent track record this year of overturning lower-court losses. A separate federal judge in a related case previously declined to...

Nov 20 (Reuters) - A federal judge on Thursday halted for now President Donald Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops to Washington D.C., dealing Trump a temporary legal setback to his efforts to send the military to American cities over the objections of local leaders.U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, temporarily blocked the Trump administration from deploying National Guard troops to enforce the law in the nation’s capital without approval from its mayor.Read about innovative ideas and the people working on solutions to global crises with the Reuters Beacon newsletter. Sign up here.Cobb paused...

A federal judge on Monday dismissed the Trump administration’s challenge to a New York law that blocks immigration arrests for people traveling to and from state courthouses. U.S. District Judge Mae D’Agostino rejected the administration’s claims that New York’s restrictions create unconstitutional obstacles to immigration enforcement and are preempted by federal law. “To hold to the contrary would improperly elevate the concerns of the federal sovereign over that of a State and deprive New York of its essential ability to protect its sovereign interests in the face of undue federal interference,” D’Agostino wrote in her 41-page opinion. New York passed...

A federal judge ordered prosecutors Monday to turn over secret grand jury records in the case against former FBI Director James Comey to his legal team Monday, calling out “a disturbing pattern of profound investigative missteps, missteps that … potentially undermine the integrity of the grand jury proceeding.”And one legal expert said the bombshell decision could spell disaster for the prosecution against Comey and potentially be a huge embarrassment for the whole Department of Justice.In a 24-page ruling, US Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick accused the feds of flouting attorney-client privilege to secure an indictment of President Trump’s longtime nemesis, ripped...

Public universities in Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky and Tennessee have been on notice for four years that they cannot force faculty to use students' preferred pronouns and may pay a steep penalty if they try. Last week, those states' K-12 schools got the same message as applied to student speech. The full 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered a lower court to issue an "appropriately tailored preliminary injunction" that bans Ohio's Olentangy Local School District "from punishing students for the commonplace use of biological pronouns," as distinct from "the abuse of transgender students" in violation of harassment policies. Half of...

A New York judge dismissed a legal challenge Friday from Texas seeking to enforce a more than $100,000 civil judgment against a doctor accused of prescribing abortion pills to a Dallas-area woman in an early test of the state's “shield law” designed to protect providers. Republican Texas State Attorney General Ken Paxton wanted a New York court to enforce a civil decision from Texas against Dr. Margaret Carpenter, who practices north of New York City in Ulster County, for allegedly prescribing abortion medication via telemedicine. But acting Ulster County Clerk Taylor Bruck refused to file the judgment, saying he was...

"Judge says Greenpeace must pay $345 million in pipeline lawsuit, cutting jury amount nearly in half"

A federal judge on Tuesday evening said Los Angeles-based US Attorney Bill Essayli has been in the role unlawfully and disqualified him. President Trump chose California Republican Assemblyman Bill Essayli to serve as the acting US attorney for the Central District of California earlier this year. Bill Essayli is a staunch Trump supporter who has been aggressively investigating and prosecuting illegal aliens and criminals. US District Judge Michael Seabright, a George W. Bush appointee, said Essayli has been unlawfully serving since July. Judge Seabright did not dismiss Essayli’s indictments because they were signed by other attorneys for the government. The...