Category: Attack the Judiciary

Trump Administration Defies Court Order on Kennedy Center

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum refused to commit to complying with a federal court order requiring President Donald Trump's name be removed from the Kennedy Center within two weeks. When asked on CNN's State of the Union whether the name would be removed, Burgum deflected by suggesting the ruling might be appealed and claimed "there's controversy on both sides," despite U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper's clear ruling that only Congress has authority to change the center's name under the 1964 statute that created it.

Trump's administration had added his name to the building's facade in December 2025 after the board, comprised entirely of Trump appointees, voted to rename it "The Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts." Judge Cooper found this decision violated federal law, writing that "Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it." The board's vote to close the venue for a two-year renovation was also deemed "ill-informed and seemingly preordained" by the judge, who noted the decision lacked sufficient independent analysis of the center's actual needs.

Trump responded to the court order by attacking Judge Cooper and his wife on Truth Social in posts exceeding 1,300 words, making unfounded claims about the judge's impartiality and alleging without evidence that Cooper's wife, attorney Amy Jeffress, influenced the ruling because of her work with President Biden's legal team. Trump claimed the center was "rusted, rotted, and rat and bug infested," language echoed by Burgum, who cited deterioration in HVAC systems to justify the renovation as necessary.

The Kennedy Center controversy reflects deeper tensions over Trump's control of the institution. Multiple high-profile artists have withdrawn or canceled performances in response to the takeover, including folk singer Kristy Lee, jazz group the Cookers, and the producers of Hamilton, with creator Lin-Manuel Miranda stating the center was "not created in this spirit" under Trump's leadership. The center has already conducted massive layoffs in preparation for the shutdown.

Judge Cooper's ruling only temporarily blocks the closure and does not prevent the board from reconsidering the decision if it does so with proper analysis of the center's actual operational and maintenance needs. The administration's refusal to acknowledge the court's authority to enforce this decision, combined with Burgum's equivocation, demonstrates a pattern of disregarding judicial orders when they conflict with Trump's interests. A spokeswoman for the center stated confidence that "on appeal the court will uphold the Board's will," signaling continued defiance of the judge's determination.

(Source: https://time.com/article/2026/05/31/burgum-says-trump-s-name-won-t-be-taken-off-kennedy-center-after-judges-ruling/)(

Trump Defends Exodus of Lawyers from His Administration

The departure of over 10,000 government lawyers from Trump’s administration is not just an isolated event but part of a broader strategy, viewed by some as a “deep state” conspiracy endorsed by Trump and the Republicans. This approach targets those not blindly loyal to Trump, seeing periodic loyalty purges as necessary for authoritarian control. Low-quality loyalists replace experienced civil servants, willing to follow Trump’s directives regardless of constitutionality. This aligns with Project 2025, a Heritage Foundation policy blueprint aiming to dismantle federal bureaucracy.

Project 2025 outlines a plan to replace tens of thousands of career civil servants with political loyalists, ensuring presidential control over the executive branch. Key strategies include the proposed revival of “Schedule F,” which would reclassify approximately 50,000 federal workers into political appointments, stripping their job protections. It also relies on “unitary executive theory,” granting the president total control over federal agencies, challenging the independence of bodies like the Department of Justice and the FBI.

The project organizes databases of pre-vetted conservative loyalists to fill government positions swiftly, aiming to install “conservative warriors” in legal, regulatory, and policy-making roles across all departments.

More than 10,000 lawyers have left the Trump administration leaving multiple agencies understaffed, report says | The Independent

More than 10,000 government lawyers have departed the Trump administration since his inauguration, with approximately one in five federal attorneys who worked at the end of 2024 gone by March 2026, according to a New York Times analysis. Trump systematically removed lawyers across multiple agencies to reduce the federal workforce, eliminate entire departments, and pressure remaining attorneys to implement his agenda without regard to constitutional legality. The Department of Education, which Trump seeks to dismantle permanently, lost over 50 percent of its legal staff, while the Justice Department experienced a 21 percent reduction in attorneys.

The Justice Department purged lawyers working on cases misaligned with Trump's priorities, firing prosecutors assigned to January 6 investigations and cases against Trump himself, and removing career prosecutors who refused to indict Trump's political opponents. Attorneys voluntarily departed after witnessing unprecedented pressure from officials demanding they execute Trump's personal agenda. The administration now offers $25,000 signing bonuses and lowered hiring standards to fill vacancies, yet prospective lawyers remain reluctant to accept positions, fearing association with the administration damages their future employability and legal careers.

The Department of Homeland Security was the only agency to gain lawyers, necessitated by litigation stemming from Trump's mass deportation plan and resulting immigration cases. The Department of Education is attempting to rehire lawyers it previously terminated, with Secretary Linda McMahon telling senators in April that she was bringing back dismissed staff to address a backlog of civil rights complaints. The mass exodus has left multiple government agencies understaffed and struggling to recruit qualified legal talent.

Within his first year, Trump directed government lawyers to defend policies lacking constitutional foundation, including attempts to eliminate birthright citizenship, expand executive power, and deploy the National Guard into U.S. cities during protests. The Treasury Department's top lawyer recently resigned following the DOJ's announcement of a $1.776 billion "Anti-Weaponization Fund" that would compensate individuals claiming unfair prosecution, including January 6 rioters pardoned by Trump. This fund effectively uses taxpayer money to indemnify those convicted of crimes connected to Trump's attempts to overturn the 2020 election.

(Source: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-administration-lawyers-jobs-staff-b2986740.html)

Trump Demands Judge’s Impeachment Over Kennedy Center Ruling

President Donald Trump demanded the impeachment of U.S. District Court Judge Christopher Cooper after Cooper temporarily blocked Trump's planned renovations to the Kennedy Center and prevented Trump from adding his name to the building. Judge Cooper ruled that Congress alone has authority to establish the Kennedy Center's name and that the Board cannot unilaterally alter it without legislative approval. Trump attacked Cooper, accusing him of conflict of interest and alleging that the judge's wife's political views influenced the ruling, calling for the judge to face charges.

Trump characterized the Kennedy Center as "dilapidated, rusted, rotted, and rat and bug infested," framing the renovation project as necessary restoration work. The Kennedy Center Board has secured $257 million for the project and announced its intention to appeal Cooper's decision, continuing to push for approval to proceed with renovations. Trump's demand that a federal judge be impeached for an unfavorable ruling exemplifies his pattern of attacking the judiciary when court decisions contradict his agenda, undermining judicial independence and the rule of law.

(Source: https://www.independent.co.uk/bulletin/news/trump-kennedy-center-judge-cooper-b2986769.html)

Trump Rages Over $149B Tariff Refunds After Supreme Court Voids Regime

President Donald Trump remains angry three months after the Supreme Court invalidated his tariff regime in February, telling Fortune that he is furious about being forced to refund $149 billion to countries and entities he claims “hate us” and “ripped us off for years.” The 6-3 decision by the conservative-majority Court ruled that Trump lacked clear congressional authorization to unilaterally impose tariffs under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act, with Chief Justice John Roberts writing that Trump’s assertion of “extraordinary power to unilaterally impose tariffs of unlimited amount, duration, and scope” exceeded constitutional bounds.

Trump’s primary complaint centers not on the ruling itself but on the financial consequences: his administration must issue refunds exceeding $35.5 billion to importers who filed for tariff relief. However, economic research contradicts Trump’s framing that tariffs burden foreign nations. A January 2025 Kiel Institute for the World Economy report found U.S. consumers paid for “nearly all” tariffs, while a February Tax Foundation analysis estimated the levies cost the average American household approximately $1,300 annually. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s research indicates Trump’s tariffs have sustained elevated inflation levels.

Despite the Supreme Court’s decision, Trump has pursued legal workarounds to reimpose tariffs, invoking Section 122 of the 1974 Trade Act to impose a 10 percent levy on all imports. Trump attacked the justices who ruled against him, including Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett, whom he appointed, calling them “incorrect” and stating he was “absolutely ashamed” of their decision. His administration collected $195 billion in tariff revenue during the last fiscal year, which Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent cited as progress toward deficit reduction.

Public opposition to Trump’s tariff expansion has grown substantially. A February Pew Research Center survey found 60 percent of Americans disapprove of the administration’s expanded tariffs. Companies that directly paid tariffs will receive refunds through the administration’s ongoing process, but consumers are unlikely to see relief, according to reporting from The New York Times, as payments flow only to importers rather than end users.

(Source: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-tariffs-supreme-court-refunds-b2978803.html)

Trump Demands Jeffries Expulsion Over Supreme Court Criticism

Donald Trump, the current President of the United States, demanded House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries be removed from Congress after Jeffries criticized the Supreme Court’s decision voiding Louisiana’s second majority Black congressional district as “illegitimate.” Trump posted on Truth Social that Jeffries, whom he called “a Low IQ individual,” should face impeachment, falsely claiming representatives can be impeached when the Constitution permits only expulsion by two-thirds vote of the House.

Jeffries attacked the Supreme Court’s 6-3 ruling, which eliminated the district that Chief Justice John Roberts characterized as a “snake” created along racial lines and Justice Samuel Alito deemed an “unconstitutional gerrymander.” Jeffries stated the decision helps Trump “scheme to suppress the vote and rig” midterm elections and called it “the Trump Court” rather than the Roberts Court. Trump celebrated the ruling on Wednesday, calling it the “kind of ruling I like,” directly contradicting his subsequent demand to punish Jeffries for questioning it.

Trump’s attack on Jeffries deploys racist language consistent with his documented pattern targeting African Americans with dehumanizing terms. A Truthout examination found that 8 in 10 posts by Trump calling someone “Low IQ” target a person of color, with communications experts identifying the term as “a racist dog whistle with a long history in the US.” Trump frequently uses such terms against Black political figures including Congresswoman Maxine Waters and TV host Don Lemon, focusing narrowly on intelligence while varying insults for others.

This assault on Jeffries violates the implicit agreement to moderate political discourse that followed a shooting incident at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Trump’s demand to expel a Democratic lawmaker for legitimate criticism of the judiciary demonstrates authoritarian abuse of power and his refusal to acknowledge the connection between his own inflammatory rhetoric and the climate of hostility endangering political figures.

(Source: https://www.mediaite.com/politics/trump-calls-for-hakeem-jeffries-to-be-impeached-for-bashing-illegitimate-supreme-court-why-not/)

Acting AG Blanche Defends Weak Comey Indictment

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche defended the second indictment of former FBI Director James Comey on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, claiming the prosecution extends beyond Comey’s Instagram post displaying seashells arranged as “86 47” from November 2025. Blanche asserted that career prosecutors, FBI agents, and Secret Service agents investigated the case thoroughly, though he refused to disclose what additional evidence exists. Experts and even some Republicans have declared the case meritless, and Judge Colm Connolly previously dismissed Comey’s first indictment in September 2025 for lying to Congress, ruling that Trump’s appointee leading that prosecution was illegally appointed.

Comey’s second indictment violates prosecutorial norms by following Trump’s direct demand for indictments posted on Truth Social in September 2025. Trump publicly ordered his then-Attorney General Pam Bondi to indict Comey, Adam Schiff, Letitia James, and others, describing them as “guilty as hell.” This represents an unprecedented weaponization of the Justice Department as Trump’s political enforcement mechanism. Comey’s second indictment stems from allegations that his social media post suggested harm to Trump, though Comey removed the post and apologized months before charges were filed.

Senator Adam Schiff, a former prosecutor with nearly six years of experience, stated directly that he had never encountered such a weak case and predicted dismissal before trial. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell cited Trump’s unprecedented legal assault against him, along with political investigations targeting Schiff and New York Attorney General Letitia James, as justification for remaining on the Federal Reserve board until the investigation concluded transparently. The Trump Justice Department ended its investigation into Powell last month to secure a key Republican senator’s vote for Powell’s replacement, demonstrating the politicized nature of these prosecutions.

Blanche’s defense of the indictment occurred within Trump’s documented pattern of using the Justice Department to target political enemies, following the framework established by Trump’s personal attorneys now leading the DOJ. Career attorneys and officials have departed the Justice Department in significant numbers due to its increased political manipulation, undermining the agency’s prosecutorial capacity. Comey responded via Substack video, stating he expects further Trump administration attacks but remains convinced of his innocence and an independent justice system’s eventual restoration.

Blanche acknowledged on Sunday that thousands of Americans who have used the phrase “86 47,” widely available on Amazon merchandise, should not face prosecution, directly contradicting the reasoning behind Comey’s indictment and exposing the selective, politically motivated nature of the prosecution. The Trump administration has already fired prosecutors who refused to pursue the Comey prosecution, illustrating the coercive pressure within the Department of Justice to secure convictions against Trump’s identified enemies regardless of evidence quality.

(Source: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/todd-blanche-nbc-comey-indictment-b2969764.html)

Trump Promotes ‘Secure’ White House Ballroom After Shooting

President Trump used a shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on April 25, 2026, to advance his $400 million White House Ballroom project. In a Truth Social post the morning after the incident, Trump claimed the ballroom’s military-grade security features would have prevented the shooting and demanded immediate construction without further legal delay.

Trump’s post attacked the legal challenge to the ballroom, dismissing the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s lawsuit as frivolous and brought by “a woman walking her dog” with “absolutely No Standing.” He demanded the “ridiculous” lawsuit be “dropped immediately” and insisted nothing should interfere with construction, which he claimed was “on budget and substantially ahead of schedule.”

District Judge Richard Leon halted construction in March, ruling that Trump lacks statutory authority to proceed without express congressional authorization. The Trump administration had demolished the White House East Wing in October 2025 to make room for the ballroom, a project that has sparked constitutional and preservation concerns as Trump previously attacked the court ruling blocking the ballroom.

Trump’s invocation of security threats to bypass judicial oversight and congressional approval reflects a pattern of using crises to justify abuse of power and consolidation of executive authority, weaponizing a tragedy to advance a vanity project that violates constitutional checks on presidential power.

(Source: https://www.mediaite.com/media/news/trump-promotes-large-safe-and-secure-ballroom-after-shooting/)

Donald Trump Rails Against Supreme Court Over Ending His “Liberation Day” Taxes

President Donald Trump attacked the Supreme Court on Friday for its February ruling invalidating his “Liberation Day” emergency tariffs, claiming the court could have prevented a $159 billion refund obligation by including “one little half sentence” in its decision. Trump stated that justices needed only to add language exempting already-collected tariff revenue from repayment, insisting this single phrase would have made the country substantially wealthier and spared companies from receiving refunds on duties he had imposed on nearly every U.S. trading partner.

The Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision determined that Trump’s sweeping tariff action violated constitutional authority, which Congress alone possesses under Article I. Trump mischaracterized the ruling on CNBC, falsely claiming he had lost “by just two votes” when he actually lost by three votes, and incorrectly stating the justices found he had power to unilaterally levy tariffs without congressional approval. He demanded the Court should have simply reworded its opinion to shield the government from repaying collected duties, framing the refund obligation as a preventable loss caused by judicial negligence.

Trump’s complaints reveal his expectation that the Supreme Court should have restructured its legal reasoning to serve his financial interests rather than apply constitutional law as written. His repeated emphasis on a hypothetical “one sentence” fix demonstrates frustration that the judiciary did not accommodate his policy preferences through creative statutory language, and his false characterization of the vote margin and the Court’s reasoning compounds the distortion of what the decision actually addressed.

The tariff ruling stands as a constraint on Trump’s unilateral executive power, requiring him to pursue tariff authority through the different legal mechanisms already available under existing emergency statutes that Congress has delegated. Trump’s public complaints about the Court’s wording rather than its substance underscore his conflation of legal outcomes with personal grievances and his apparent belief that justices should tailor opinions to minimize fiscal consequences for his preferred policies.

(Source: https://www.mediaite.com/media/news/trump-rails-against-supreme-court-over-absence-of-one-little-half-sentence-on-tariffs/)

Trump ICE Detention Crisis Forces Federal Judges to Issue Sanctions

Federal judges across California are confronting a crisis in immigration detention created by the Trump administration’s mandatory detention policy. Since July 2025, the Department of Homeland Security has ordered all arrested immigrants held without bond, a dramatic expansion from the previous policy that applied only to those caught at the border. This change followed Trump’s signing of a spending bill allocating $45 billion to expand federal immigrant detention facilities.

The surge in detentions has overwhelmed California’s federal courts, particularly the Eastern District, which received over 2,700 habeas corpus petitions since January 2026 compared to fewer than 500 the previous year. Chief Judge Troy Nunley declared a judicial emergency in the district and sanctioned a Department of Justice attorney $250 for repeatedly violating court orders to release detained immigrants. Many detainees are longtime U.S. residents with no criminal records who were arrested during routine immigration check-ins, including an Afghan who supported American military efforts and a Cambodian grandmother who fled the Khmer Rouge.

Habeas corpus petitions, once reserved for death row inmates and suspected terrorists, have become the only recourse for immigrants seeking release. Judge Nunley stated that “the majority of the cases that we see are cases where people should not be detained” and emphasized that detainees are entitled to the same due process protections as any other person. However, some government lawyers have argued that the Fifth Amendment does not apply to detained immigrants, contradicting constitutional guarantees of due process.

The Trump administration’s policy has created procedural chaos across federal districts. Judge Sunshine Sykes of California’s Central District issued a decision describing the administration’s enforcement as inflicting “terror against noncitizens,” though the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals blocked her order requiring bond hearings. Federal judges unprepared for the volume of immigration cases are working nights to process emergency motions, while government attorneys claim they are overwhelmed by more than 300 cases assigned in three months.

Nationwide, nearly a quarter of approximately 30,000 active habeas petitions are filed in California courts, with half concentrated in Nunley’s Eastern District. Legal experts anticipate the dispute over mandatory detention will reach the Supreme Court as challenges progress through multiple appellate circuits. Judges across the country have expressed frustration that the Trump administration’s enforcement blitz has created a system that denies detainees the opportunity to gather evidence or consult with lawyers while forcing them to file emergency constitutional petitions instead of receiving standard bond hearings.

(Source: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-04-19/trump-doj-habeas-corpus-immigration-detention)

1 2 3 … 11