Please click here to opt in to receive the Executive Functions Roundup via email and to subscribe to Executive Functions.
The Department of Justice on Friday filed a notice of appeal to the Fourth Circuit challenging a Nov. 24 district court order that dismissed the prosecutions against Letitia James and James Comey on the ground that Lindsey Halligan’s appointment as Interim U.S. Attorney was unlawful. (Notice.) (Politico.) See a previous Roundup for background.
The U.S. military struck dozens of sites in Syria on Friday in retaliation for a Dec. 13 ambush on a military base in Palmyra, Syria that killed two American soldiers and their interpreter. Officials told the Washington Post that the strikes targeted Islamic State infrastructure and weapons storage locations. (WaPo.)
The U.S. Coast Guard on Saturday attempted to seize the Bella 1, a sanctioned oil tanker linked to Venezuela, which did not submit to being boarded and continued traveling northeast into the Atlantic Ocean. The Coast Guard successfully boarded another tanker, the Centuries, earlier that day. (NYT.)
The DOJ on Sunday reinstated an online image from the Jeffrey Epstein files that includes photographs of President Trump after temporarily removing it on Saturday. The department stated that the image had been removed for further review “for potential further action to protect victims.” (X.) At least thirteen of the thousands of Epstein-related files released on Friday had been removed without explanation by Saturday, according to the BBC. (BBC.) Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche stated during an interview on Sunday that the DOJ is “not redacting information around President Trump.” (NYT.)
Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie said on Sunday that they plan to pursue a contempt resolution against Attorney General Pam Bondi over the Justice Department’s failure to fully release Epstein-related records by the statutory deadline. (WaPo.)
CBS News on Sunday removed a planned “60 Minutes” segment on Venezuelan men deported to a prison in El Salvador. In a statement, CBS said that the segment “needed additional reporting” and would air at a later date. The correspondent who reported the planned segment, Sharyn Alfonsi, called the decision “political” in a private note to CBS colleagues. (NYT.)
Hannah Natanson and Meryl Kornfield chronicled the transformation of the federal bureaucracy in 2025. (WaPo.)
Peter Baker argued that “Trump’s reinvention of the presidency has altered the balance of power in Washington in profound ways that may endure long after he departs the scene.” (NYT.)
Andrew McCarthy contended that Trump has no authority to classify fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction. (National Review.)
Ed Whelan reviewed President Trump’s 2025 judicial appointments, noting fewer appellate judges taking senior status than expected, a slower pace of appellate nominations compared with Trump’s first term and Biden’s first year, and generally high-quality appellate picks, with the exception of Third Circuit judge Emil Bove. (National Review.)