Judge Illston listed services that could disappear if the offices that administer them were wiped out, including #DisasterRelief funds for #farmers after a #flood, in-person appointments for #SocialSecurity recipients to discuss their #benefits, #workplace #safety inspections in #mines & #grants that support #kindergarten programs.
Judge Illston’s order:
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.448664/gov.uscourts.cand.448664.85.0.pdf
Judge Illston noted that process requires consultation with #Congress on any plan to abolish or transfer part of an agency.
“It is the prerogative of presidents to pursue new policy priorities & to imprint their stamp on the #FederalGovernment,” she wrote in a 42-page order. “But to make large-scale overhauls of federal agencies, any president must enlist the help of his #CoequalBranch & partner, the Congress.”
Ruling after an emergency hearing on Fri, Judge Susan Illston of the Federal Dist Court for Northern California said the govt’s effort to lay off workers & shut down offices & programs created an urgent threat to scores of critical services.
#Congress set up a specific process for the #FederalGovernment to reorganize itself. The #unions & organizations behind the lawsuit have argued that #Trump does not have the #authority to make those decisions without the #LegislativeBranch.
Of all the lawsuits challenging #Trump’s vision to dramatically scale back the form & function of the #FederalGovernment, this one is poised to have the broadest effect. Most of the agencies have yet to announce their downsizing plans, but employees across the govt have been anxiously waiting for announcements that have been expected for weeks.
Federal Judge Susan Illston on Friday called for a two-week pause in the #Trump admin’s plans for #MassLayoffs & program closures, barring 2 dozen agencies from moving forward w/the largest phase of Trump’s *downsizing* efforts, which the judge said was #illegal without congressional authorization.
#law #TrumpPurge #TrumpCoup #Musk #DOGE #Congress #LegislativeBranch #SeparationOfPowers #ExecutiveOverreach #AbuseOfPower
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/09/us/politics/federal-layoffs-trump-ruling.html?smid=url-share
“#Congress mandated #VOA to report reliable & authoritative news, not to outsource its #journalism to outlets aligned w/the president’s agenda,” they wrote in a stmnt. “VOA already has talented & professional #journalists ready to tell America’s story in line w/the VOA Charter, but we are blocked from our own newsroom. That is why we will continue fighting for our rights in court.”
#VoiceOfAmerica WH bureau chief Patsy Widakuswara & #PressFreedom editor Jessica Jerreat, plaintiffs in one of the lawsuits against the #Trump admin over the EO, said this agreement violates the congressional mandate of #VOA.
It was a rare instance of bipartisan pushback from members of both the #House & #Senate against the WH for its actions as the #Trump admin is mounting an aggressive challenge to the #LegislativeBranch’s #spending prerogatives.
Cole’s signature was particularly significant since he had not joined in a previous bipartisan congressional letter taking Trump’s #budget office to task on spending. In a brief interview on Mon, he said he believed the website should be restored, a view shared by Collins.
More increases in #immigration #enforcement #funding:
- $14.4B for #ICE Transportation & Removal (current budget $721M)
$1.25B for immigration courts
$1.32B for ICE prosecutors
+ $600M for the prosecutions
$787M for state/local assistance
+$650M specifically for memos of agreement between ICE & state/local law enforcement agencies allowing those agencies to perform immigration enforcement duties, including detention & removal.
Other new #immigration “fees”:
- $250 bond for ALL nonimmigrant #visa applicants
- $550 for “parole” work permits
- $1,500 fee for applying to adjust status to get a #GreenCard before a judge.
The bill would also dramatically increase immigration #enforcement #funding.
$45B for #ICE #detention, assuming $4.5B/year, that would be nearly a 250% annual increase to the current $3.4 detention budget.
The prohibitive fees continue:
2 "fees" are actually penalties:
- $5,000 "fee" for being ordered deported for missing a court hearing.
- $5,000 "fee" for being an inadmissible *alien* apprehended between ports of entry.
This new fee is grotesque:
- $500 for any Special Immigrant Juvenile [#SIJ] Status application — these are abused, abandoned or neglected kids, ya think they have $500?
More prohibitive #immigration“fees” — these are just for trying to defend your status in #court:
- $100 fee for ANY continuance (except in "exceptional” circumstances)
- $1,050 fee for ANY waiver application
- $900 fee for all appeals except bond (currently $100)
- $1,500 fee for non-Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR) cancellation (currently $100)
Crazy
At the end of the #House #Judiciary reconciliation bill, there are 2 major restrictions on the judiciary & #litigation:
First, as noted above, it bans judges from enforcing #contempt unless there was an FRCP 65(c) bond (rare in #CivilRights suits). Obviously aimed to stop Judges like #Boasberg & #Xinis, among others.
Second, they would bar money damages in settlements. [see pic]
It also declares—not coincidentally as #Trump is facing dozens of #TROs & injunctions:
"No #court of the United States may use appropriated funds to enforce a #contempt citation for failure to comply with an #injunction or #TemporaryRestrainingOrder”
The #JimJordan led #House #Judiciary Cmt has now released their reconciliation bill.
In addition to #immigration measures, it transfers ALL #FTC #antitrust actions to the US #AttorneyGeneral [currently #PamBondi], among other antitrust provisions.
#Durbin was an early critic of the #war in #Iraq, voting against the 2002 authorization for military force. He criticized the mistreatment of detainees at the US military prison in #GuantánamoBay, Cuba, as comparable to the acts of “Nazis, Soviets in their gulags, or some mad regime — Pol Pot or others — that had no concern for human beings” & later apologized for a “poor choice of words.”
In celebrating the sixth anniversary of that #law, the #FirstStepAct, in December, #Durbin noted that less than 10% of the 40k prisoners released under the law, many of them drug offenders, had been rearrested or jailed, far less than the typical #recidivism rate.
#Durbin …has also forged close relationships w/some #Republicans, including Sen #ChuckGrassley of Iowa, who has been chairman of the #Judiciary Cmte in periods when Durbin was the top #Democrat.
The two pushed a #criminal #justice overhaul that overcame Republican resistance to be signed into #law by #Trump during his first term, leading to the early release of thousands of prisoners who had their sentences recalculated.
…A longtime force on the #Judiciary Cmte, Mr. #Durbin became its chair in 2021, resisting calls from progressives that he make room for a younger member given his leadership role & other #legislative responsibilities.
He subsequently oversaw the confirmation of 235 federal #judges during the Biden admin—including one #SCOTUS justice—surpassing by one the number of judges confirmed by #Republicans during an aggressive push in #Trump’s first term.
#Durbin’s departure will reverberate in the #Senate, where he played a prominent role on a host of big issues & was considered a forceful advocate of party positions. He was among the first to push for a path to #citizenship for some #undocumented immigrants brought to the #UnitedStates illegally as children, a group that came to be known as #Dreamers that became the focal point of successive failed efforts to overhaul #immigration laws.
