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Judge Anthony Trenga (ED. Va.) during a Thursday hearing refused to block the administration’s firing of 19 intelligence officers whom the administration identified as working on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) issues. According to the workers’ lawsuit, most of them had previously worked in positions that did not involve DEI and had been temporarily reassigned to these positions. Judge Trenga said the CIA director has “uncabined discretion” to fire employees if high-level officials determine the firings are in the “national interest.” (Politico.) (Lawsuit.)
Judge William Alsup (N.D. Cal.) on Thursday directed the administration to retract certain Office of Personnel Management (OPM) memoranda that apparently initiated the firing of thousands of federal workers. However, Judge Alsup’s order does not require the administration to reverse these firings or halt firings moving forward. The order only directs OPM to retract these guidance memoranda. (NYT.)
Judge John D. Bates (D.D.C.) granted in part plaintiffs’ motion for expedited discovery before they file their motion for a preliminary injunction in their lawsuit seeking to prevent the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from accessing sensitive government data. The “limited discovery” will include four depositions of officials involved with DOGE—capped at eight hours total—“limited to three properly-scoped topics,” in addition to limited document production. (Politico.) (Order.)
According to Kyle Cheney, DOJ is “continuing a wave of efforts to free Jan. 6 defendants jailed for crimes unrelated to the attack on the Capitol.” (Cheney.)
Five former Defense Secretaries—including Gen. James Mattis who served in the first Trump administration—wrote a letter to Congress denouncing the administration’s firing of senior military leaders and calling on Congress to “hold immediate hearings to assess the national security implications of Mr. Trump’s dismissals.” (Letter.)
Steve Vladeck suggested that there are two ways to understand Chief Justice Roberts’s administrative stay of a district-court directive for the administration to disburse foreign aid—one of which is “deeply ominous,” the other “at least institutionally defensible.” (One First.)
Josh Blackman argued that “if the Courts want their orders to be followed, the Courts must issue orders that can be followed.” He wrote that federal judges who issue unappealable temporary restraining orders and refuse to stay those rulings are “walking on thin ice.” (Volokh Conspiracy.)
David French criticized the administration’s firing of senior military leaders. He wrote that the firings “perfectly fit the pattern of Trump’s presidency so far — he fires better-qualified people, hires unusual, less-qualified replacements and then declares that the era of ‘D.E.I.’ is over.” (NYT.)