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Tag: federal

Judge blocks Trump admin directive capping costs tied to federal research grants

A judge temporarily halted a directive by the Trump administration that imposed a cap on overhead costs that go to universities and other institutions that host federally funded research projects.

The directive, which went into effect Monday, sparked an outcry of criticism from research institutions that argued the new rule would have devastating consequences. It was immediately challenged in court by 22 Democratic state attorneys general, as well as by several leading research universities and related groups in a second lawsuit.

U.S. District Court Judge Angel Kelley subsequently ruled in favor of the 22 state attorneys general, granting their request for a temporary restraining order that prohibits agencies from taking any steps to implement, apply or enforce the new rule that imposed a cap on facilities and administrative costs that are part of federally funded research grants.

‘WHAT A RIPOFF!’: TRUMP SPARKS BACKLASH AFTER CUTTING BILLIONS IN OVERHEAD COSTS FROM NIH RESEARCH GRANTS

The rule capped overhead costs associated with National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded research grants at 15%.

When a grant is awarded to a scientist by the NIH, an additional percentage, on top of the allocated research funding, goes to the facility housing their work to cover these “indirect costs.” According to an announcement about the new funding cap from the Trump administration, that percentage has historically been around 27% to 28% for each grant. But in some cases, negotiated rates can be even higher, such as at the University of Michigan where the negotiated rate for indirect costs is 56%.

In fiscal year 2023, the NIH spent around $35 billion on roughly 50,000 grants that go to research institutions, such as universities and hospitals. Of that $35 billion, according to the Trump administration, $9 billion was allocated for “indirect costs” that cover expenses related to depreciation on buildings, equipment, capital improvements, interest on debt associated with certain buildings, and operations and maintenance expenses. (iStock)

The lawsuit from the attorneys general argued the move violated federal law governing the procedures federal agencies must follow when implementing new regulations. They also argued that the move usurped the will of Congress, which, in 2018, passed legislation prohibiting the NIH or the Health and Human Services Department from unilaterally making changes to current negotiated rates, or implementing a modified approach to the reimbursement of indirect costs.

UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR HAILS THAT SCIENCE ‘THRIVED’ UNDER HITLER IN ATTACK ON TRUMP’S NIH CUTS

Kelley’s temporary restraining order requires the Trump administration agencies that are impacted by the new rule to file reports within 24 hours to confirm the steps they are taking to comply with her order. Meanwhile, Kelley set an in-person hearing date on the matter for Feb. 21.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment on the restraining order, but did not hear back at press time. However, after the directive went into effect on Monday, White House spokesperson Kush Desai told Fox News Digital, “Contrary to the hysteria, redirecting billions of allocated NIH spending away from administrative bloat means there will be more money and resources available for legitimate scientific research, not less.”

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced a $9 billion spending cut in response to a new mandate from the Trump administration. (Alamy/Getty Images)

Earlier on Monday, U.S. District Judge John J. McConnell said the Trump administration had violated his order halting a federal aid funding freeze that sought to pause “all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance,” to ensure federal disbursements aligned with the president’s executive actions.

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McConnell ordered the government to “immediately restore frozen funding,” noting that plaintiffs had provided adequate evidence to show the Trump administration “in some cases [has] continued to improperly freeze federal funds and refused to resume disbursement of appropriated federal funds,” despite his “clear and unambiguous” order lifting the freeze.

February 11, 2025
Federal appeals court dismisses classified records case against former Trump co-defendants

A federal appeals court dismissed the appeal charges brought against President Donald Trump aides Waltine Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira by former Special Counsel Jack Smith in his classified documents case, Fox News Digital has learned.

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed the case against Nauta and De Oliveira on Tuesday morning, two weeks after the Justice Department moved to drop the charges.

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT FIRES MORE THAN A DOZEN KEY OFFICIALS ON FORMER SPECIAL COUNSEL JACK SMITH’S TEAM

Nauta, Trump’s valet, and De Oliveira, the property manager of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, had pleaded not guilty to federal charges alleging they conspired to obstruct the FBI investigation into classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago.

The Justice Department had filed a motion in January to drop all criminal proceedings against Nauta and De Oliveira, putting an end to Smith’s probe more than two years after it began.

Waltine Nauta, left, takes a phone from Former President Donald Trump at a golf event in Virginia. (Alex Brandon/The Associated Press)

Former Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Smith, a former Justice Department official, as special counsel in November 2022.

Smith, a former assistant U.S. attorney and chief to the DOJ’s public integrity section, led the investigation into Trump’s retention of classified documents after leaving the White House and whether the former president obstructed the federal government’s investigation into the matter.

Carlos De Oliveira, center, an employee of Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, arrives for a court appearance with attorney John Irving, at the James Lawrence King Federal Justice Building, in July 2023, in Miami. (Wilfredo Lee/The Associated Press)

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT MOVES TO DROP PROSECUTION OF MAR-A-LAGO STAFF IN TRUMP CLASSIFIED DOCS CASE

Smith also was tasked with overseeing the investigation into whether Trump or other officials and entities interfered with the peaceful transfer of power following the 2020 presidential election, including the certification of the Electoral College vote on Jan. 6, 2021.

Smith charged Trump in both cases, but Trump pleaded not guilty.

A federal appeals court dismissed the appeal charges brought against Waltine Nauta, Donald Trump’s valet, and Carlos De Oliveira, the property manager of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, pictured here. (Steve Helber/The Associated Press)

The classified records case was dismissed in July 2024 by U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida Judge Aileen Cannon, who ruled that Smith was unlawfully appointed as special counsel.

Smith charged Trump in the U.S. District Court for Washington, D.C., in his 2020 election case, but after Trump was elected president, Smith sought to dismiss the case. Judge Tanya Chutkan granted that request.

Both cases were dismissed.

Former Special Counsel Jack Smith led the investigation into Donald Trump’s retention of classified documents after leaving the White House. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

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The Justice Department, in January, fired more than a dozen key officials who worked on Special Counsel Jack Smith’s team prosecuting the president, after then-Acting Attorney General James McHenry said they could not be trusted in “faithfully implementing the president’s agenda.”

Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove has also directed acting FBI Director Brian Driscoll to identify agents involved in Jan. 6 prosecutions for internal review.

Brooke Singman is a political correspondent and reporter for Fox News Digital, Fox News Channel and FOX Business.

February 11, 2025
DOJ moves to dismiss federal charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams

FIRST ON FOX: The Justice Department is moving to dismiss federal charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, Fox News has learned.

Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove sent a letter to the acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York on Monday instructing SDNY to drop the federal case against Adams and dismiss it without prejudice.

Adams was indicted in September on charges including bribery, soliciting campaign contributions from foreign nationals, wire fraud and conspiracy. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Sources told Fox News that the case needs to be dismissed because the process was tainted against Adams.

Sources also said that top officials at the Justice Department believe that the case needs to be dropped so that Adams can continue efforts to stop illegal immigration in the city.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Brooke Singman is a political correspondent and reporter for Fox News Digital, Fox News Channel and FOX Business.

February 10, 2025
Trump administration appeals federal judge’s order to unfreeze federal funds

The Trump administration is appealing a federal judge’s order to unfreeze federal funding in the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.

The motion comes hours after a federal judge from Rhode Island ordered President Donald Trump’s administration to unfreeze federal funds once again, claiming the administration did not adhere to his previous order to do so.

U.S. District Judge John McConnell filed a new motion Monday ordering the Trump administration to comply with a restraining order issued Jan. 31, temporarily blocking the administration’s efforts to pause federal grants and loans.

McConnell’s original restraining order came after 22 states and the District of Columbia challenged the Trump administration’s actions to hold up funds for grants such as the Climate Pollution Reduction Grant and other Environmental Protection Agency programs. But the states said Friday that the administration isn’t following through and funds are still tied up.

The Office of Management and Budget released a memo Jan. 27 announcing plans to issue a temporary pause on federal grants and loans. While the White House later rescinded the memo on Jan. 29, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the move didn’t equate a “recission of the federal funding freeze.”

Specifically, McConnell’s motion calls for the Trump administration to restore withheld funds appropriated in the Infrastructure Improvement and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act that passed during the Biden administration in 2021 and 2022, respectively. The motion also calls on the Trump administration to restore funding for institutes like the National Institutes of Health.

‘CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS’: THE IMPOUNDMENT ACT TAKES CENTER STAGE AFTER RUSSEL VOUGHT’S CONFIRMATION

The Trump administration unveiled an Office of Management and Budget memo on Jan. 27 ordering a pause on federal funds and grants. (Evan Vucci/The Associated Press)

The motion filed Monday asserts that states have provided evidence that there are still instances where the federal government has “improperly” frozen funds and failed to distribute appropriated federal funds.

While the motion says the Trump administration claims these actions were done to “root out” fraud, McConnell said that the “freezes in effect now were a result of the broad categorical order, not a specific finding of possible fraud.”

“The broad categorical and sweeping freeze of federal funds is, as the Court found, likely unconstitutional and has caused and continues to cause irreparable harm to a vast portion of this country,” the judge wrote on Monday.

LEAVITT PUSHES BACK ON MEDIA’S ‘UNCERTAINTY’ ABOUT FEDERAL FUNDING FREEZE

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks during a press briefing at the White House, Friday, Jan. 31, 2025, in Washington. (Evan Vucci/The Associated Press)

McConnell said in his original order that evidence suggested the White House’s rescission of the OMB memo may have been done in “name-only” in order to “defeat the jurisdiction of the court.”

As a result, McConnell said Monday that the Trump administration must “immediately restore frozen funding” until the court hears and decides the preliminary injunction request.

“Each executive order will hold up in court because every action of the Trump-Vance administration is completely lawful,” Harrison Fields, a White House spokesperson, said in a statement to Fox News. “Any legal challenge against it is nothing more than an attempt to undermine the will of the American people.

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Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha praised McConnell’s ruling and said the order “confirmed what we have been saying from the beginning.”

“It is now time for the Administration to come into full compliance,” Neronha said in a statement Monday. “This is a country of laws. We expect the Administration to follow the law. Our Office and attorneys general across the country stand ready to keep careful watch on the actions of this Administration that follow, and we will not hesitate to go back to Court if they don’t comply.”

Fox News’ Jacqui Heinrich contributed to this report.

Diana Stancy is a politics reporter with Fox News Digital covering the White House.

February 10, 2025
Elon Musk warns Federal Reserve may face DOGE audit

Varney & Co. host Stuart Varney reacts to Democrats attacks on Elon Musk over his federal budget cost-cutting efforts.

Billionaire Elon Musk on Sunday signaled that the Federal Reserve could face scrutiny as Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) continues to audit federal agencies and spending.

Musk wrote on X in response to a user’s post about the billionaire’s support for an audit of the Fed that the central bank isn’t above scrutiny from DOGE.

“All aspects of the government must be fully transparent and accountable to the people. No exceptions, including, if not especially, the Federal Reserve,” Musk wrote.

Musk is a longtime critic of the central bank and has called out its decisions on monetary policy as well as claiming the Fed’s workforce is bloated.

POWELL PUSHES BACK ON MUSK’S CLAIM FED IS ‘ABSURDLY OVERSTAFFED’

Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) leader Elon Musk warned the Federal Reserve could face an audit. (om Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images / Getty Images)

In May 2024, Musk posted that the “Fed has a crazy high number of employees.”

The billionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX also said last summer the Fed was too slow in cutting interest rates, writing on X in August that the Fed “needs to drop rates” and has been “foolish not to have done so already.”

The Fed would go on to cut rates in September in line with the market’s expectations, which it followed with further cuts in November and December.

FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS ELON MUSK’S DOGE FROM ACCESSING TREASURY RECORDS AFTER DEMOCRATIC AGS FILE LAWSUIT

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell pushed back on Musk’s claim that the central bank is “absurdly overstaffed.” (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images / Getty Images)

Fed Chair Jerome Powell was asked about Musk’s recent claim that the central bank’s workforce is “absurdly overstaffed” at a press conference last month following the central bank’s decision to leave rates steady at the current range of 4.25% to 4.5%.

“We run a very careful budget process where we’re fully aware. We owe that to the public, and we believe we do that. I’ve got no further comment on that, thanks,” Powell responded to FOX Business’ Edward Lawrence.

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February 10, 2025
Judge to weigh Trump federal employee buyout backed by Republican AGs

Jack Otter and the ‘Barron’s Roundtable’ panelists discuss how DOGE is shaking up Washington, D.C.

As Big Labor challenges President Donald Trump’s federal employee buyout order, Republican attorneys general from 22 states came to the administration’s defense late Sunday.

On Monday, a federal judge in Boston will weigh the legality of the Trump administration’s U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) “Fork Directive.”

Federal employees have until 11:59 p.m. Monday to decide if they are submitting their deferred resignation in return for eight months of paid leave.

On Feb. 2, 2 million federal employees received an email after business hours closed advising them of a “fork in the road” – they were told they could accept eight months of paid leave if they agreed to resign by Feb. 6. The buyout offer, which came as part of Elon Musk’s effort to reduce federal waste at the Department of Government Efficiency, prompted a swift blow back from federal labor unions, which argued the Fork Directive is unlawful under the Administrative Procedure Act and Antideficiency Act and that they will suffer “irreparable harm.”

Montana Attorney General Austen Knudsen – joined by the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and West Virginia – challenged those arguments brought by the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) and the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations in court.

SENATE DOGE REPUBLICAN PUSHES BILL TO BRING GOVERNMENT COMPUTER SYSTEMS ‘OUT OF THE STONE AGE’

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters in the Oval Office of the White House on Feb. 3, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images / Getty Images)

The late Sunday amicus curiae brief filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts said the federal labor unions “complain” about Trump’s executive orders about the federal workforce and allege the president is eliminating offices and programs supported by congressional appropriations, but “do not challenge the authority to issue the Fork Directive or its constitutionality” because “such a challenge would inevitably fail.”

“Courts should refrain from intruding into the President’s well-settled Article II authority to supervise and manage the federal workforce,” the filing said. “Plaintiffs seek to inject this Court into federal workforce decisions made by the President and his team. The Court can avoid raising any separation of powers concerns by denying Plaintiffs’ relief and allowing the President and his team to manage the federal workforce.”

The Republican attorneys general asked the court to deny the plaintiffs’ motion for a temporary restraining order.

The Fork Directive reports that Trump is reforming the federal workforce around four pillars: return to office, performance culture, more streamlined and flexible workforce, and enhanced standards of conduct. It is intended to “improve services that the federal workforce provides to Americans” by “freeing up government resources and revenue to focus on better serving the American people,” the filing said.

The filing noted that 65,000 federal workers had already accepted the voluntary deferred resignation offer by its original Feb. 6 deadline.

Protesters rally outside the Theodore Roosevelt Federal Building headquarters of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management on Feb. 5, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Alex Wong/Getty Images / Getty Images)

U.S. District Judge George O’Toole Jr., who was appointed by former President Bill Clinton, on Thursday temporarily blocked the deferred resignation offer until Monday’s hearing, and the Trump administration pushed back the deadline to 11:59 p.m. Monday.

DOGE CANCELS FUNDING FOR FAUCI MUSEUM EXHIBIT

In a statement, AFGE said the Fork Directive “is the latest attempt by the Trump-Vance administration to implement Project 2025’s dangerous plans to remove career public service workers and replace them with partisan loyalists.” The federal labor union said the directive “amounts to a clear ultimatum to a sweeping number of federal employees: resign now or face the possibility of job loss without compensation in the near future.”

“We are grateful to the judge for extending the deadline so more federal workers who refuse to show up to the office can take the Administration up on this very generous, once-in-a-lifetime offer,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told NBC News last week.

Further defending the Trump administration, the Republican attorneys general wrote that the Fork Directive – which takes similar language used during Musk’s mass layoffs when he took over Twitter – also is in line with public opinion, citing recent polling supporting that “Americans’ confidence in the federal government has reached depths not seen since the Vietnam War” and that “a majority of Americans believe the federal government is too large, inefficient, and wasteful.”

The Theodore Roosevelt Federal Building headquarters of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management is seen on Feb. 3, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images / Getty Images)

“The American people elected a president who repeatedly made clear his desire for a more efficient, smaller government,” they wrote. “The Fork Directive is consistent with those desires. Thus, when weighing the equitable factors, the public interest weighs strongly against Plaintiffs’ requested relief.”

The federal labor unions requested a temporary restraining order so that the OPM could review the legal basis of the directive – something the GOP attorneys general said “makes no sense.”

“If the Fork Directive is unlawful (it’s not), then why are they asking—even in the alternative—for it to be implemented under more relaxed timelines?” they wrote.

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The filing also said the plaintiff’s claim of “irreparable harm” in lost membership and revenues did not hold water, arguing that extending the deadline would increase the harm to the unions by allowing additional employees to participate.

February 10, 2025
Federal workers’ union sues to stop DOGE activity at CFPB

Jack Otter and the ‘Barron’s Roundtable’ panelists discuss how DOGE is shaking up Washington, D.C.

A union representing federal workers filed a pair of lawsuits against Consumer Financial Protection Bureau acting Director Russell Vought, asking a court to declare recent actions by him unlawful and to block the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from gaining access to employee information.

The filings by the National Treasury Employees Union come after Vought told staff at the CFPB not to issue any new rules and to stop any new investigations, among other directives. He also sent a letter to the Federal Reserve requesting no money for the CFPB’s third quarter of fiscal year 2025.

“It is substantially likely that these initial directives are a precursor to a purge of CFPB’s workforce, which is now prohibited from fulfilling the agency’s statutory mission,” read one of the lawsuits filed in federal court.

The other alleges that the CFPB has “granted access, and by extension, disclosed employee records to individuals associated with DOGE without employee consent to such disclosure.”

FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS ELON MUSK’S DOGE FROM ACCESSING TREASURY RECORDS AFTER DEMOCRATIC ATTORNEYS GENERAL FILE LAWSUIT

Russell Vought, left, the acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and Elon Musk, who leads the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). (Andrew Harnik/Kenny Holston / Getty Images)

“These employees face irreparable harm to their privacy interests if their employee information is improperly accessed and/or disseminated by individuals associated with DOGE,” that lawsuit adds. “Once an employee’s personnel information is improperly disclosed, the harm to the employee cannot be undone.”

The lawsuit also cites a union chapter president as saying that members are “concerned that their personnel information will be used to stop, lower, or otherwise modify their salaries and other benefits; to blackmail, threaten, or intimidate them; to prevent them from obtaining future employment; to deny them goods and services such as loans and childcare; in identity theft and social engineering attempts against them; in advertising and marketing directed at them.”

The CFPB did not immediately respond Monday to a request for comment from FOX Business.

On its website, the CFPB says it aims to “make consumer financial markets work for consumers, responsible providers, and the economy as a whole.”

“We protect consumers from unfair, deceptive, or abusive practices and take action against companies that break the law,” it says.

ELON MUSK ALLEGES $50 BILLION IN FRAUD AT TREASURY AFTER JUDGE BLOCKS DOGE AUDIT

Demonstrators hold signs during a protest against Elon Musk outside the U.S. Treasury building in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Feb. 4. (Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via / Getty Images)

Vought, who is the head of the Office of Management and Budget, was named acting director of the agency on Friday.

“As Acting Director, I am committed to implementing the President’s policies, consistent with the law, and acting as a faithful steward of the Bureau’s resources,” Vought said in an email to colleagues obtained by RealClearPolitics.

However, the lawsuit asks the court to declare that “Defendant Vought’s directive to the CFPB’s employees to stop their supervision and enforcement work is unlawful” and to prevent him from “further attempts to halt the CFPB’s supervision and enforcement work.”

The union also notes that Elon Musk wrote “RIP CFPB” on his X account, and that three members of DOGE have “been added to the Bureau’s staff and email directory as ‘senior advisers,’” despite not being CFPB employees.

“The same day he assumed the role of Acting Director, on February 7, Mr. Vought instructed CFPB staff to grant the DOGE team access to all non-classified CFPB systems,” it said.

Elon Musk is seen with President Donald Trump. (Brandon Bell / Getty Images)

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The second lawsuit asks the court to block “CFPB from granting access and, by extension, disclosing employee records and information to members of the Department of Government Efficiency, except as required by law.”

February 10, 2025
Federal court blocks Trump admin from sending detained Venezuelan immigrants to Guantánamo Bay

A federal court on Sunday issued a temporary restraining order blocking the Trump administration from sending three Venezuelan immigrants held in New Mexico to the Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, detention camp as part of the president’s efforts to remove illegal immigrants from the U.S.

Lawyers for the trio said in a legal filing that the detainees “fit the profile of those the administration has prioritized for detention in Guantánamo, i.e. Venezuelan men detained in the El Paso area with (false) charges of connections with the Tren de Aragua gang.”

In the filing, the lawyers asked a U.S. District Court in New Mexico for a temporary restraining order to block the administration from flying them to the U.S. military base. The lawyers noted that “the mere uncertainty the government has created surrounding the availability of legal process and counsel access is sufficient to authorize the modest injunction.”

TRUMP DEPORTING CRIMINAL ALIENS TO GUANTANAMO BAY: MEET THE HARDENED TERRORISTS THEY’LL JOIN

The Trump administration has begun flying detained illegal immigrants from the U.S. to Guantánamo Bay in Cuba. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images, left, DOD via AP, right.)

Judge Kenneth J. Gonzales granted the temporary restraining order, according to attorney Jessica Vosburgh, who represents the three men.

“It’s short term. This will get revisited and further fleshed out in the weeks to come,” Vosburgh told The Associated Press.

The filing came as part of a lawsuit on behalf of the three men filed by the Center for Constitutional Rights, the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico and Las Americas Immigrant Advisory Center.

FIRST 10 ‘HIGH THREAT’ ILLEGALS ARRIVE TO GUANTÁNAMO BAY ARE ALL TREN DE ARAGUA MEMBERS

A migrant prepares to board a flight to Guantánamo Bay. (Department of Homeland Security)

Last week, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt separately said that flights carrying detained illegal immigrants had been sent to Guantánamo.

Immigrant rights groups sent a letter on Friday demanding access to people who are now being held at the U.S. naval station, arguing that the base should not be used as a “legal black hole.” Guantánamo has been criticized around the world for its inhumane abuse and torture of detainees, including interrogation tactics.

The immigrants are being held in the Guantánamo detention camp that was set up for detainees in the aftermath of 9/11. The immigrants are separated from the 15 detainees who were already there, including planners in the 2001 terrorist attack.

In this April 17, 2019, photo, reviewed by U.S. military officials, the control tower is seen through the razor wire inside the Camp VI detention facility in Guantánamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba. (AP)

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Trump has promised to expand the detention camp to hold up to 30,000 “criminal illegal aliens.”

Leavitt said Wednesday that more than 8,000 immigrants have been arrested since Jan. 20 as part of Trump’s plan to detain and deport immigrants in the country illegally, although hundreds of those arrested have since been released back into the U.S.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

February 10, 2025
Trump 100% disagrees with federal judge’s ‘crazy’ ruling blocking DOGE from Treasury system

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President Donald Trump “100 percent” disagrees with a federal judge’s ruling on Saturday that bars the Department of Government Efficiency from accessing the Treasury Department, he said during an exclusive interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier.

“Nineteen states attorneys general filed a lawsuit, and early Saturday a judge agreed with them to restrict Elon Musk and his government efficiency team, DOGE, from accessing Treasury Department payment and data systems. They said there was a risk of ‘irreparable harm.’ What do you make of that? And does that slow you down and what you want to do?” Baier asked Trump in the interview clip.

“No, I disagree with it 100%. I think it’s crazy. And we have to solve the efficiency problem. We have to solve the fraud, waste, abuse, all the things that have gone into the government. You take a look at the USAID, the kind of fraud in there,” Trump responded.

U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of New York Paul Engelmayer, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, issued a temporary restraining order Saturday that sided with 19 Democratic state attorneys general who claimed that giving DOGE “full access” to the Treasury’s payment systems violates the law. The lawsuit was spearheaded by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

JUDGE’S ‘HOPELESSLY AMBIGUOUS’ ORDER BARRING DOGE FROM TREASURY SPARKS CONCERN BESSENT MAY ALSO BE LOCKED OUT

Fox News host Bret Baier will sit down with President Trump for an interview on Super Bowl Sunday. (Fox New)

The judge’s sweeping order, issued Saturday, bars DOGE from accessing the Treasury system until at least Feb. 14, when Engelmayer scheduled a hearing to revisit the matter.

The language of the order specifically bars “political appointees, special government employees, and any government employee detailed from an agency outside the Treasury Department access to Treasury Department payment systems or any other data maintained by the Treasury Department containing personally identifiable information.” Trump, Secretary Scott Bessent and the U.S. Treasury are named as defendants in the case.

FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS ELON MUSK’S DOGE FROM ACCESSING TREASURY RECORDS AFTER DEMOCRATIC AGS FILE LAWSUIT

President Trump speaks (Fox News)

Musk, Vice President JD Vance and other conservatives aligned with Trump have slammed the order.

“If a judge tried to tell a general how to conduct a military operation, that would be illegal. If a judge tried to command the attorney general in how to use her discretion as a prosecutor, that’s also illegal. Judges aren’t allowed to control the executive’s legitimate power,” Vance posted to X on Sunday of the order.

Elon Musk is leading the Department of Government Efficiency. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Trump spoke with Baier in an exclusive interview with Fox News ahead of the Super Bowl, which Trump will attend. The pair discussed the president’s long love of sports and football, as well as politics and DOGE.

“We’re talking about hundreds of millions of dollars of money that’s going to places where it shouldn’t be going,” Trump said when asked about what DOGE has found while auditing federal agencies in search of government overspending, fraud and corruption.

PRESIDENT TRUMP PREDICTS ELON MUSK WILL FIND ‘HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS’ IN WASTE IN NEXT DOGE DIRECTIVES

“Where if I read a list, you’d say, this is ridiculous, and you’ve read the same list and there are many that you haven’t even seen, it’s crazy. It’s a big scam. Now there’s some good money and we can do that through, any one of a number. I think I’d rather give it to Marco Rubio over at the State Department. Let him take care of the few good ones. So, I don’t know if it’s kickbacks or what’s going on, but the people. Look, I ran on this, and the people want me to find it. And I’ve had a great help with Elon Musk, who’s been terrific,” he continued.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met with President-elect Trump at Mar-a-Lago in Florida on Friday Nov. 29, 2024 to discuss topics like the economy, illegal immigration and a proposed 25% tariff. (Justin Trudeau X)

Baier also asked Trump about his recent comments about Canada becoming the U.S.’ 51st state and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeay saying last week that Trump’s desire to acquire the nation is a “a real thing.”

TRUDEAU SAYS TRUMP IS SERIOUS ABOUT CANADA BECOMING 51ST STATE: REPORTS

“Yeah, it is,” Trump said when asked about Trudeau’s remark. “I think Canada would be much better off being a 51st state because we lose $200 billion a year with Canada, and I’m not going to let that happen. It’s too much. Why are we paying $200 billion a year essentially in subsidy to Canada? Now, if they’re our 51st state, I don’t mind doing it.”

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Trump will spend his Sunday evening in New Orleans, where the Chiefs and Eagles will face off in the Super Bowl. Trump is expected to return to the White House on Sunday evening following the game.

Baier’s full interview with Trump will air Monday during “Special Report with Bret Baier.”

February 10, 2025
Sen. Schiff urges Trump admin to exclude firefighters from federal hiring freeze

Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., called on multiple federal agencies to exempt federal seasonal firefighters from President Donald Trump’s executive order implementing a federal hiring freeze.

In a letter to the Department of Agriculture, the Department of the Interior and the Office of Management and Budget, Schiff noted that Trump’s hiring freeze issued on Jan. 20 had stopped the onboarding of thousands of seasonal firefighters that could harm readiness to respond to wildfires, as Southern California is still grappling with the aftermath of last month’s wildfires.

“The memo issued on January 20 states that it does not apply to positions related to public safety, but this onboarding delay is directly contrary to that claim,” Schiff said in the letter dated Friday. “Our constituents and communities rely on the hard work and sacrifice of our more than 15,000 seasonal federal wildland firefighters each year.”

LOS ANGELES FIRE VICTIMS TO BE BOOTED FROM RED CROSS SHELTER TO MAKE SPACE FOR FILM CREWS, EVENTS

Adam Schiff talks to the media after voting at McCambridge Recreation Center in Burbank on Tuesday, November 5, 2024. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

“Seasonal firefighters are essential to the public safety of those who live in fire-prone areas, and I am alarmed that federal firefighters are not party to this exemption,” he said. “In light of this, I am requesting information from your agencies explaining why the federal hiring freeze has extended to the hiring of seasonal federal wildland firefighters.”

Southern California was devastated last month by two major wildfires and several smaller ones that killed nearly 30 people and destroyed more than 16,000 structures.

Some of the firefighters subject to Trump’s order that halted the onboarding of thousands of seasonal federal firefighters were from agencies that helped in the response to the wildfires in the Los Angeles area, according to NBC News.

A Fire firefighter works a fire during the Eaton fire on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025 in Altadena, California. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

A Bureau of Land Management official told the outlet that despite Trump’s order excluding positions related to “public safety” from the hiring freeze, federal firefighters are not exempt.

“In the face of increasingly destructive wildfires, we cannot afford to diminish the tools at our disposal to fight these fires,” Schiff said in his letter. “Impeding the onboarding of federal firefighters and encouraging the early retirement of others, threatens California’s firefighting capacity and puts communities at great risk. Californians rely on the support of federal firefighters, and I hope you share my appreciation for the essential role these individuals play in keeping residents safe.”

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Vehicles and a house burned as powerful winds fueling devastating wildfires in the Los Angeles area forced people to evacuate the Eaton Fire in Altadena, California, Jan. 8, 2025. (REUTERS/David Swanson)

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The senator also requested information on how the hiring freeze impacts federal firefighting applicants, the number of voluntary resignations and the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency’s role in the hiring, preparedness or readiness of federal wildland firefighters.

February 9, 2025