Two Venezuelan planes left the U.S. Monday to return 190 of its nationals deported under President Donald Trump's illegal immigration crackdown, Fox News reported. The Convisa airliners were sent by the South American country to retrieve its citizens from U.S. Army base Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas.
The flights were arranged as part of Trump's plan to send migrants illegally in the U.S. back to their home countries. Except for a brief return to the practice in 2023, deportation flights had been stopped until now.
Richard Grenell, Trump's envoy, posted a photo of the occasion. "Thank you, @realDonaldTrump. Two planes of illegal immigrants left El Paso today headed to Venezuela - paid for by the Venezuelans," he posted to X, formerly Twitter, Monday.
Thank you, @realDonaldTrump.
Two planes of illegal immigrants left El Paso today headed to Venezuela - paid for by the Venezuelans. pic.twitter.com/Tc7GmwfOJp
— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) February 10, 2025
Trump's plan represents a return to sanity after President Joe Biden's term. Since 2021, the Southern border has seen a surge of immigrants coming from Venezuela and other nations that previously refused to accept deportees.
However, Grenell's visit to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in Caracas last month prompted a change of heart. "This is the world we want, a world of peace, understanding, dialogue, and cooperation," Maduro said.
Trump touted Grenell's success in securing permission for "all Venezuela illegal aliens who were encamped in the U.S., including gang members of Tren de Aragua," to be sent home with their flight paid for by the receiving nation. Moreover, six Americans held in Venezuela were released back to the U.S.
The Venezuelan government took issue with "ill-intentioned" and "false" statements about Tren de Aragua gang members being part of the deportation. However, it confirmed that the return flight indeed took place on Monday.
Still, the return to sanity doesn't stop there. Secretary of State Marco Rubio brokered similar agreements with Guatemala and El Salvador to ship their citizens back to their respective countries.
Trump's successes keep piling up on the illegal immigration front. In a separate Fox News report, Trump's standoff with Mexico to deal with illegal immigration or face tariffs ended in an agreement to send 10,000 Mexican National Guard troops to secure the border from their side.
The president made the deal after speaking with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum. "It was a very friendly conversation wherein she agreed to immediately supply 10,000 Mexican Soldiers on the Border separating Mexico and the United States," Trump touted on his Truth Social.
"These soldiers will be specifically designated to stop the flow of fentanyl, and illegal migrants into our Country," he went on. Trump noted that there would be a one-month reprieve while the administration negotiates with its Mexican counterparts.
"I look forward to participating in those negotiations, with President Sheinbaum, as we attempt to achieve a 'deal' between our two Countries," Trump added. He successfully addressed illegal immigration while preserving friendly relations between the nations.
Trump's presidency is already off to a winning start. He has done in a matter of weeks what Democrats spent years saying was impossible, and he's just getting started.
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is continuing its work finding waste fraud and abuse in the federal government in its stated quest to cut $2 trillion a year from the bloated budget and balance the books for the first time in decades.
In a 48-hour period last week, DOGE slashed 62 contracts worth $182 million from the Department of Health and Human Services, including $168,000 for a museum exhibit on Anthony Fauci, the NIH official who got on President Donald Trump's bad side during the COVID-19 pandemic.
As DOGE pointed out in a post on X, the contracts were only for administrative expenses and no cuts were made on any healthcare programs.
In the past 48 hours, HHS canceled 62 contract worth $182 million. These contracts were entirely for administrative expenses – none touched any healthcare programs. This included terminating a $168,000 contract for an Anthony Fauci exhibit at the NIH Museum. pic.twitter.com/EsZxflPS6w
— Department of Government Efficiency (@DOGE) February 7, 2025
DOGE has been looking into various agencies to see what cuts can be made. It wants to completely get rid of USAID, a source of foreign aid money that was being used to fund woke projects.
The newly formed department is also looking to cut over $100 billion in entitlements to people with no social security numbers.
The Fauci exhibit was in development and was due to be finished in July 2025. It has now been completely scrapped.
Trump had also revoked Fauci's government security detail, which he was granted in 2020 amid the pandemic.
Fauci faces major animosity from Americans who felt the pandemic response--especially mask and vaccine mandates--was overdone.
He also faces suspicion for funding the Wuhan lab that is suspected of having leaked the coronavirus that caused havoc around the world, albeit accidentally (as far as we know).
"I think, you know, when you work for government, at some point your security detail comes off and, you know, you can't have them forever," Trump said of the decision. "We took some off other people, too, but you can't have a security detail for the rest of your life because you work for government."
Former President Joe Biden pardoned Fauci pre-emptively on his last day in office even though Fauci was never charged with a crime.
Prior to being the spokesperson and so-called expert on COVID-19, Fauci famously tried to bring attention to HIV/AIDS before much was known about them.
He later became the public face of the disease as it was recognized and began to be treated.
Never one to fall into uncritical lockstep agreement with fellow Democrats, Sen. John Fetterman recently offered a series of hard truths to colleagues within his own party.
As the Daily Mail reports, in a candid conversation with Tara Palmieri of Puck, Fetterman has suggested that unless Democrats begin a process of reflection and adjustment, particularly with regard to President Donald Trump, they may lose the ability to secure the support of significant portions of the electorate in the coming years.
From his unconventional sartorial selections to his willingness to sit down for a Mar-a-Lago meeting with Trump, Fetterman is far from the typical Democrat Party lawmaker.
The Pennsylvania senator is now taking aim at certain factions on his own side of the aisle, suggesting that far too many Democrats have “turned their back” on white male voters, suggesting that the damage may be irreparable.
Encapsulating what he sees as his party's approach, Fetterman said, “Men's the problem. Men are to blame. Or their masculinity is toxic. Or unless you're able to conform to our very strict kinds of definition of what we think's appropriate, well, then, hey, I'm going to find an alternative,” and he went on to declare that large numbers of white male voters have done just that with their support of Trump.
Fetterman continued, saying, “I think [Democrats'] primary currency was shaming and scolding and talking down to people and telling them, 'Hey I know better than you,' or 'You're dopes,' or 'You're a bro,' or 'You're ignorant,' or you know, 'Don't you – how can you be this dumb?'”
Suggesting that Trump supporters are fascists is, according to Fetterman, another critical error on the part of Democrats, adding, “I know, and I love people that voted for Trump, and they're not fascist, you know, they don't support insurrection and those things. And if you go to an extreme and you become a boutique kind of a proposition, then you're going to lose the argument. And then we have done that.”
Fetterman has drawn the ire of some within his own party due to his independence on a series of key issues, including illegal immigration and support for Israel.
Specifically, Fetterman served as a co-sponsor of the Laken Riley Act, a measure that expanded the government's ability to detain immigrants convicted of crimes, and he subsequently voted for the bill's final passage.
Though many within his own party took issue with some of the Act's provisions, Fetterman stated that it should never be a controversial proposition to detain an illegal immigrant who has committed criminal offenses.
Fetterman has also remained unwavering in his support for Israel in the wake of the Hamas attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, a position that regularly puts him at odds with the left flank of his party.
Evidence of Fetterman's openness to new solutions for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was found when the senator, unlike other Democrats, did not express outrage at Trump's recent suggestion that the U.S. take control of Gaza, with Fetterman saying, “I think it was more to kind of shake things up and start a very more honest conversation.”
Though Fetterman has been praised in some corners for his willingness to engage in bipartisan dialogue and for his support for the confirmation of Trump attorney general pick Pam Bond, that is not to say that he does not still side with his Democrat colleagues with great frequency when the rubber hits the road, as conservative skeptics have pointed out.
As The Hill notes, Fetterman recently announced that he would vote no on both Tulsi Gabbard, nominated to serve as Trump's director of national intelligence and on Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., tapped to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, solidifying his reputation as one of the Senate's most vexing enigmas.
Rep. Mary Miller (R-IL) addressed transgender Rep. Sarah McBride (D-DE) "Mr. McBride" while speaking from the House floor Thursday, Fox News reported. McBride is the first openly transgender lawmaker to serve in Congress.
Miller made the subtle dig when she called on McBride for his first time addressing Congress publicly. "The chair recognizes the gentleman from Delaware, Mr. McBride, for five minutes," Miller said.
To his credit, McBride didn't immediately make an issue out of it. "Thank you, Madam Speaker," is all McBride said back.
Congresswoman Mary Miller introduces Transgender House member Sarah McBride as 'the gentleman from Delaware, Mr. McBride.’pic.twitter.com/GrUmfOlQhF
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) February 8, 2025
The incident went almost completely unacknowledged at the time, though McBride retaliated by calling Miller "Mr. Speaker" the next time he addressed her. However, Miller was proud of her decision and shared a video to X, formerly Twitter.
"Today on the House Floor, I refused to deny biological reality. President Trump restored biological truth in the Federal Government, and I refuse to perpetuate the lie that gender is open to our interpretation. It is not," Miller wrote.
Miller sits on the House Freedom Caucus and is just one of several outspoken lawmakers who have stood up for truth and logic. Just after McBride was elected, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) introduced a resolution to keep men out of Capitol bathrooms, The Hill reported.
House Speaker Mike Johnson drafted a policy that gender-specific facilities to biological sex. "All single-sex facilities in the Capitol and House Office Buildings — such as restrooms, changing rooms, and locker rooms — are reserved for individuals of that biological sex," Johnson said on Nov. 20, which is Transgender Day of Remembrance.
"It is important to note that each Member office has its own private restroom, and unisex restrooms are available throughout the Capitol," Johnson added. Congressional Equality Caucus Chairman Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) called the rule "a cruel and unnecessary rule that puts countless staff, interns, and visitors to the United States Capitol at risk," without explaining how.
President Donald Trump won in part due to his promise to protect women and roll back gender insanity. As NPR reported, Trump signed an executive order on his first day in office that abolished "gender identity" from the language of the federal government.
It was just one of several promises kept. "I will take historic action to defeat the toxic poison of gender ideology and reaffirm that God created two genders, male and female," Trump pledged in October.
Trump has also attempted to eliminate gender-confused individuals from the military. He signed military executive orders to discharge service members who identify as transgender.
"A man’s assertion that he is a woman, and his requirement that others honor this falsehood, is not consistent with the humility and selflessness required of a service member," a White House release about the executive order noted. The Defense Department spent $15 million on medical care for transgender individuals.
The tide is turning in America when it comes to the gender confusion issue. People are tired of the lies and coercion and are hoping for a return to sanity, and Miller did her part to do just that in Congress.
Four people are dead after a plane contracted by the U.S. military crashed in the Philippines Thursday, ABC News reported. U.S. Embassy spokesperson Kanishka Gangopadhyay said President Donald Trump's Pentagon had hired the aircraft which went down in Maguindanao del Sur province.
The crash killed everyone on board and a water buffalo on the ground. According to Fox News, it happened during a "routine mission in support of U.S.-Philippine security cooperation activities," a statement from the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said Friday.
"The aircraft was providing intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance support at the request of our Philippine allies," the statement added. They have not released the names of the people killed.
"We can confirm no survivors of the crash. There were four personnel on board, including one U.S. military service member and three defense contractors," the statement added.
Officials are still investigating the cause of the crash. Windy Beaty, the area's provincial disaster mitigation officer, said that people on the ground observed that the plane was smoking and then exploded before crashing to the ground in a rice field.
According to a senior U.S. defense official, the aircraft was a U.S. Marine Corps Beechcraft King Air 350. There isn't word on the mission for the service member and three defense contractors aboard the ill-fated plane.
However, American service members have been routinely deployed to the Philippines for decades. They have been instrumental in helping train the Philippine military as it fights back Muslim extremists.
Although the nation is a majority Roman Catholic, the region where the crash happened is part of the Muslim stronghold. The nation also serves as a strategic location for the Pentagon to stave off Chinese communist encroachment into surrounding nations.
In fact, recent naval drills involving American and Philippine military in the area have elicited ire from China because they were near the South China Sea, which Bejing insists is its own, the Associated Press reported. The communist nation is adding to the mounting tension with its objections.
On Wednesday, the U.S. 7th Fleet engaged in a "multilateral Maritime Cooperative Activity" with its counterparts from Japan, Australia, and the Philippines. It was conducted in the Exclusive Economic Zone that the Philippines declares as its own.
The fleet acknowledged that these exercises were taking place in the area but did not give any specifics. However, it noted in a statement that they are meant to "strengthen the interoperability of our defense/armed forces doctrines, tactics, techniques, and procedures."
Additional drills were planned for Japan, France, and the U.S. in the Philippines Sea. The fleet said that the drill is "designed to advance coordination and cooperation between French, Japanese, and U.S. maritime forces while simultaneously demonstrating capabilities in multi-domain operations."
On Thursday, a spokesperson for China's Southern Theater Command accused the Philippines of "colluding with outside countries to organize ‘so-called joint patrols'" to "destabilize the region." Tian Junli called the drills "an attempt to endorse its ‘illegal claims’ in the South China Sea and 'undermine China’s maritime rights and interests.'"
Though there is no official connection between the plane crash and the military exercise, it's clear that the region is on edge and remaining vigilant against the threats they face. Regardless of the stated mission of the aircraft that crased, it's a tragedy that four people lost their lives.
First lady Melania Trump frequently emulates the royal style of Princess Kate in her fashion and how she fulfills her role, the UK Express reported. Trump has directed those who dress her to keep with the British monarchy's classy high fashion sense.
Britain's Hello! magazine, which focuses on news about the royals, recently promoted a piece about the first lady's high fashion down-to-earth demeanor. In a post to X, formerly Twitter, the magazine used a black and white photo of Trump sporting one of her edgier looks.
Trump wore a black sheath dress with a structured jacket thrown over her shoulders. Even though it was a statement outfit, the silhouette resembled one of Kate's favorite coats in year another nod to the royal.
EXCLUSIVE: in our latest digital cover, we have new photos and interviews all about the FLOTUS ➡️ https://t.co/jnymrj2qDC pic.twitter.com/FK6wgDPzXI
— HELLO! (@hellomag) February 3, 2025
Before she was Mrs. Donald Trump, Melania Trump was a supermodel in her own right. Melania Trump credits her work in the fashion industry for preparing her for the role of first lady.
"I think nothing prepared me more to be first lady in front of the world than the fashion industry… It's glamorous, but it's at the same time very tough," Melania Trump said in September on FOX & Friends.
"Everybody judges you, [looks] at you a certain way. So it can be a mean world as well," she added.
"So nothing prepared me more for this world than fashion. It gives you a thick skin," Melania Trump said.
It also prepared her to become a fashion icon just like Kate. For this year's inauguration, Melania Trump chose a tailored suit by American designer Adam Lippes paired with a statement hat that was very much reminiscent of the royals.
The similarities between Melania Trump and Kate go deeper than wardrobe. Both women are incredibly supportive of their powerful husbands and flourish in their unique roles.
"There is something in her – the strong woman – but at the same time, there is the soft power; she’s really good at balancing her husband. Sometimes I wonder how she could have the courage to keep on going; they’ve gone through so much," photographer Régine Mahaux noted of Melania Trump after spending time with the couple.
"She’s committed. She loves him, and he loves her," he added. Kate is similarly known to be the rock for her husband, Prince William, as he navigates his duties as a royal, as noted in US Weekly.
"I don’t know where William would be without Kate — she hasn’t had everything done for her throughout her life, so she calms him down when he gets a bit fractious. She said he sometimes has to be treated as her fourth child," an unnamed source told author and royals expert.
Both of these remarkable women serve their families and their respective countries with love and sincerity. Moreover, both Melania Trump and Princess Kate look amazingly stylish while doing it.
Barron Trump, youngest son of President Donald Trump, returned to the campus of New York University on Tuesday for the first time since his father's inauguration, the Financial Express reported. The younger Trump is a freshman studying business at the Stern School of Business.
The younger Trump was spotted wearing an off-white sweater with a coordinating polo shirt underneath. He paired that with black jeans and sneakers for a preppy casual look.
Barron returned to school later than other students as he missed the first few weeks due to his father's swearing-in on Jan. 20. Many social media users shared photos of Barron back at school and looking every bit the part of a handsome and wealthy scholar.
NYP: Barron Trump spotted at NYU for first time since his father’s inauguration
He’s wearing a cream colored sweater 🔥 pic.twitter.com/tIuh5tPM5h
— johnny maga (@_johnnymaga) February 4, 2025
Barron is just 18 years old, but the New York Post reported that he's already looking to get his own real estate firm up and running. The younger Trump is currently working with two business partners who form Trump, Fulcher & Roxburgh Capital Inc.
The company, domiciled at the Trump residence in Palm Beach, Florida, is eyeing the luxury property market. There are plans for golf courses and other projects in Utah, Arizona, and Idaho, a business plan that mirrors the elder Trump's real estate sweet spot.
This is all coming together while Barron is only part of the way into his first year at college. His mother, first lady Melania Trump, said in October on Fox News' The Five that Barron "loves his classes and his professors."
Another insider shared that despite not having a "normal" transition to college life, Barron is "really popular with the ladies" at the left-leaning institution. "He’s tall and handsome. A lot of people seem to think he’s pretty attractive — yes, even liberal people like him,” the insider added.
This new visibility is in contrast to Donald Trump's first term when Barron was virtually kept hidden. He said very little throughout the 2024 campaign, but by the end, it was clear that Donald Trump's formerly nonpolitical son was one of his greatest assets.
As it turned out, Barron was the Trump campaign's dark horse who certainly had a hand in pushing the candidate over the finish line. "He knew the youth vote," Donald Trump said at the inaugural parade, according to Fox News.
"You know, we won the youth vote by 36 points…He said, ‘Dad, you got to go out, do Joe Rogan, do all these guys,’" the president said of his son's advice.
During the campaign, Donald Trump's advisers created a list of potential podcast appearances. The UK Daily Mail reported that when presented with the list, the then-candidate said, "Call Barron and see what he thinks and let me know."
One of the first Barron suggested was Aldin Ross, a 24-year-old internet phenomenon who interviews controversial guests like Andrew Tate and also livestreams himself playing video games. Barron urged his father to speak with podcast king Joe Rogan, which was a winning strategy indeed.
Barron has quite the pedigree and is already a standout even as a college student. His time at NYU won't be typical, but it already seems it will be fruitful.
A Philadelphia medical examiner has changed his ruling for a third time, saying that the death of a teacher who was stabbed 20 times is "something other than suicide," Breitbart reported. Dr. Marlon Osbourne initially ruled her death a homicide, then inexplicably switched it to suicide, which Pennsylvania's then-Attorney General Josh Shapiro upheld.
The convoluted case involves the death of 27-year-old Ellen Greenberg, who was found dead in her Philadelphia apartment in January 2011. Police found her dead body riddled with stab wounds.
Osbourne initially ruled her death a homicide but inexplicably changed it to suicide a month later. Shapiro, who is now the governor of the Keystone State, upheld that ruling in February 2022 after the family of the deceased woman sued the Philadelphia Medical Examiner’s Office.
Now, Osbourne is again reversing his decision amid issues including Shapiro's conflict of interest in the case. "It is my professional opinion Ellen’s manner of death should be designated as something other than suicide," Osbourne said in a court filing Saturday.
This change is just the latest in a string of strange circumstances surrounding this case, which has been ongoing for over a decade. The most significant came after Osbourne's first change of heart, for which no explanation was given.
Then, there was the matter of Shapiro's personal relationship with a possible witness. The person was an attorney and cousin to Samuel Goldberg, Greenberg's fiance, who discovered her body and with whom she spoke to on the phone the night she died.
After a citizen journalist pointed to this connection, Shapiro recused himself from the case. He acknowledged the ties "created the appearance of a conflict of interest" but called the misconduct allegations "unfounded."
The filing Saturday noted factors that caused Osbourne to return to his original determination. "I am now aware that information exists which draws into question, for example, whether Ellen’s fiancé was witnessed entering the apartment before placing the 9-1-1 call on January 26, 2011; whether the door was forced open as reported; whether Ellen’s body was moved by someone else inside the apartment with her at or near the time of her death," Osbourne noted.
Most notably, Osbourne pointed to Dr. Lyndsey Emery's findings about one of Greenberg's wounds. While evaluating a segment of Greenberg's spine, Emery noted a stab wound that was received after death, which would be impossible in a suicide scenario.
Greenberg's parents have fought for the cause of death to be changed from suicide and currently have two pending civil cases. According to CNN, the Greenbergs are seeking damages for a "conspiracy to cover up Ellen’s murder."
Their case hinged on the fact that Goldberg failed to mention for a full two minutes of the 911 call that his fiance had a knife protruding from her chest. When he finally shared that information, Goldberg offered that Greenberg "fell on a knife."
Somehow, police responding to the call felt confident that Greenberg committed suicide and never bothered to call in the crime unit. However, Osbourne's autopsy the day after Greenberg's death showed multiple wounds indicating that she was "stabbed by another person" as well as a mix of bruises that ranged from fresh to healing.
Although Osbourne ruled her death a homicide the next day, which would have warranted an investigation of the crime scene, it was too late. By the time police returned to process the apartment as a crime scene, it had already been professionally cleaned.
There are too many irregularities in this case, but it appears officials are curious about precisely what happened to Greenberg. Unfortunately, they've waited so long that there's a risk that the truth will never be fully revealed.
President Donald Trump reportedly fired the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Board (CFPB) Rohit Chopra via email last week in an effort to rid his administration of Biden holdovers.
Chopra was originally appointed to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) by Trump in 2017, but was made director of CFPB in 2021 by Joe Biden.
Chopra's term on the board was supposed to go until the end of 2026, but was prematurely cut short by Trump.
Chopra posted on X that he was grateful to serve under both Trump and Biden.
It's been an honor serving as your @CFPB Director.
Every day, Americans from across the country shared their ideas and experiences with us. You helped us hold powerful companies & their executives accountable for breaking the law, and you made our work better.
Thank you. 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/JD7lIcwmHa
— Rohit Chopra (@chopracfpb) February 1, 2025
Chopra claimed in a letter to Trump that he was ready to work with the new administration.
He may have run afoul of Trump, however, when he backed forcing banks to give loans to illegal immigrants in 2023.
He said at the time that the government “will not allow companies to use immigration status as an excuse for illegal discrimination.”
It probably didn't help that he was a protege of Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), whose views on finance differ widely from Trump's.
Liberals including Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, speculated that ousting Chopra signals a desire to get rid of the CFPB altogether.
The board was created after the Great Recession of 2008 to protect consumers engaging in transactions like mortgages and car loans.
Republicans have long considered it a “government power grab that does little to protect consumers and hampers economic growth."
The increase in paperwork that consumers have to deal with when getting these kinds of loans is due to the board, and does not seem to have made a great deal of difference in the long term.
President Donald Trump has wasted little time in enacting his second-term agenda, but last week he encountered some judicial obstacles to one of his key priorities.
On Friday, a federal judge placed a temporary block on the Trump administration's freeze on federal funds disbursement covering a range of potential programs, the second time in a week that such a halt was implemented by a court, as NBC News reports.
At issue is a memo issued by Trump's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) that ordered federal agencies to place a temporary freeze on the disbursement of grants and loans, a move meant to make certain that funds are not being spent on programs that do not align with the president's overall agenda, as Roll Call explained.
The spending freeze was set to take effect last Tuesday at 5 p.m., and the administration said that it was intended to eliminate spending on “Marxist equity, transgenderism, and green new deal social engineering.”
Acting OMB Director Matthew Vaeth stated, ““Career and political appointees in the Executive Branch have a duty to align Federal spending and action with the will of the American people as expressed through Presidential priorities,” and added that the memo “requires Federal agencies to identify and review all Federal financial assistance programs and supporting activities consistent with the President's policies and requirements.”
It did not take long for Democrats and members of the mainstream media to seize on the memo and declare it an attempt to circumvent Congress by withholding duly appropriated funding from the American people, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer decrying what he said was “lawlessness and chaos” that would extract “an awful price,” as Fox News reports.
Though White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt went to great lengths to explain that the freeze did not impact anyone who receives direct assistance such as payments from Social Security, Medicare benefits, food stamps, or the like, legal action was initiated to stop the administration's move.
On Tuesday, before the freeze was set to take effect, U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan issued a temporary block on the action via an administrative stay.
After hearing arguments from those protesting the action as well as from the administration, AliKhan said, “I do think there is the specter of irreparable harm” and granted the aforementioned stay, effective until Monday.
On Friday, U.S. District Judge John J. McConnell agreed with a group of 22 states who sought a block on the funding freeze, stating, “The Executive's action unilaterally suspends the payment of federal funds to the States and others simply by choosing to do so.”
He went on, “The Executive cites no legal authority allowing it to do so; indeed, no such federal law would authorize the Executive's unilateral action here” and granted a temporary restraining order against the administration.
Though the White House last week rescinded the OMB memo at issue and suggested that doing so rendered the nascent litigation moot, Judge McConnell noted that administration spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said that the action did not mean that the funding freeze had been ended, only the memo itself, something he interpreted to mean that the “policies...that the States challenge here are still in full force and effect and thus the issues presented in the States' TRO motion are not moot.”
McConnell's order suggested his belief that the plaintiff states are “likely to succeed on the merits of some, if not all, of their claims,” stating, “Federal law specifies how the Executive should act if it believes that appropriations are inconsistent with the President's priorities -- it must ask Congress, not act unilaterally.”
He continued, “Are there some aspects of the pause that might be legal and appropriate constitutionally for the Executive to take? The Court imagines there are, but it is equally sure that there are many instances in the Executive Orders' wide-ranging, all-encompassing, and ambiguous 'pause' of critical funding that are not,” but given the apparent confidence from the White House that the spending freeze will pass legal muster, only time will tell how this confrontation ultimately concludes.