Stephen Dinan

‘Charade’: Federal judge spanks Trump over attempt to wind down consumer watchdog

A federal judge delivered a nasty rebuke Friday to the White House, ordering it to stop trying to wind down the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

March 29, 2025

Judge blocks deportation of foreign student arrested for Palestinian support

A federal judge on Friday ordered the government not to report a foreign student from Turkey.

March 28, 2025

Appeals court backs Musk, Trump in fight over shutting down USAID headquarters

A federal appeals court delivered a win to Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency on Friday, ruling that shutting down the headquarters and website of the U.S. Agency for International Development could go forward.

March 28, 2025

Appeals court allows Trump firings of Democratic appointees

President Trump's power to fire got a boost Friday when a federal appeals court hit pause on two lower court rulings that had blocked him from ousting Democratic appointees from agency boards.

March 28, 2025

Judge puts new crimp in Trump deportation plans with limits on third-country removals

A federal judge slapped new restrictions on President Trump's deportation efforts, ruling that he can't change the destination of migrants' removal without giving them a chance to argue against it in court.

March 28, 2025

Judge extends blockade on Venezuelan gang deportations

Judge James Boasberg has stretched his stoppage of President Trump's ability to deport Venezuelan gang suspects as alien enemies, ordering the administration not to try to oust anyone until at least April 12.

March 28, 2025

Trump asks Supreme Court to restart deportation of Venezuelan gang suspects

President Trump's lawyers have asked the Supreme Court to allow him to begin deporting Venezuelan gang suspects he's deemed terrorists and "alien enemies," saying lower court blockades are interfering with core presidential powers.

March 28, 2025

Arrest of pro-Palestinian graduate student goes viral

Video showing the arrest of a Turkish graduate student in Massachusetts who has supported anti-Israel causes has gone viral and drawn condemnation from immigration groups that said it smacked of authoritarianism.

March 27, 2025

Judge orders Trump team to preserve pre-attack Signal chat; feds say they were already doing it

The first round in the legal battle over leaked Signal chat messages about the U.S. attack on Houthi rebels fizzled Thursday as a judge ordered the government to do what it said it's already trying to do: preserve the records in accordance with the law.

March 27, 2025

ICE lost track of tens of thousands of migrant kids, inspector general says

The government's deportation agency lost track of tens of thousands of illegal immigrant children who were released into communities and disappeared, the agency's inspector general reported Thursday.

March 27, 2025

Appeals court maintains block on Trump administration’s spending freeze

A federal appeals court ruled Thursday to maintain a block on President Trump's attempt to pause a large swath of federal spending, saying the administration has not been able to prove the orders are legal.

March 27, 2025

Feds nab MS-13 leader in Virginia, challenge sanctuary cities to work with Trump

U.S. authorities on Thursday said the MS-13's top leader on the East Coast was captured by federal agents in Northern Virginia.

March 27, 2025

Appeals court upholds Judge Boasberg’s blockade on Venezuelan gang deportations

A federal appeals court on Wednesday upheld a judge's blockade on President Trump using the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan gang suspects, saying the administration appears to be stretching the law too far.

March 26, 2025

Appeals court blocks judge’s order for Musk, DOGE to turn over records

A federal appeals court halted a lower court's order that had directed Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency to submit to legal discovery and turn over records about its operations, ruling Wednesday that the judge was too quick to allow it.

March 26, 2025

Judge rejects Trump DOJ’s calls for recusal from case involving law firm linked to Steele dossier

U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell rejected the Justice Department's demand that she recuse herself from a case involving President Trump, saying Wednesday that the allegations against her were "innuendo and basic legal disagreements."

March 26, 2025

Labor unions say Trump officials are defying court order to rehire probational employees

Labor unions asked a federal judge Wednesday to hold the Trump administration in contempt of court, arguing the president's team has not complied with a judge's order to rehire most of the probationary employees it fired.

March 26, 2025

Supreme Court upholds Biden-era requirements on ghost guns

The Supreme Court on Wednesday gave the federal government the green light to regulate firearms kits -- also known as ghost guns -- as weapons, meaning they must have serial numbers and that buyers must undergo background checks.

March 26, 2025

DHS tells judge Trump couldn’t bring Venezuelan ‘terrorists’ back to U.S.

A defiant Trump administration defended its decision not to turn planes with Venezuelan gang suspects around midair, telling a judge late Tuesday that President Trump will never knowingly import "terrorists" into the U.S.

March 25, 2025

Judge blocks DHS from arresting, deporting Columbia student protester

A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order Tuesday telling the Trump administration not to arrest Yunseo Chung, an immigrant from South Korea who said she has become a target since she was arrested at a pro-Palestinian protest earlier this month.

March 25, 2025

GSA slashes must-sell property list from 443 to 8

The General Services Administration has cut its target list of non-core properties it wants to dump from 443 down to just eight -- all of which had previously been identified as targets by the previous administration.

March 25, 2025