Trump Admin Will “Fight” Court Order to Rehire Federal Employees

The Trump administration practically declared war on the nation’s judicial system Friday, asserting that the executive branch would aggressively fight court orders requiring them to rehire thousands of federal employees.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt dismissed the system of checks and balances as “unconstitutional,” telling reporters that the administration would fight back by appealing the decisions with the “full weight” of the White House legal counsel.

“You cannot have a low-level district court judge filing an injunction to usurp the executive authority of the president of the United States,” Leavitt said. “That is absurd.”

Leavitt then said it was within the president’s authority to “fire or hire” judges, while highlighting that federal courts had placed more injunctions on the administration’s “agenda” in the last month than the Biden administration faced during a four-year term. Somehow, Leavitt interpreted that as a personal attack on the president and his policies rather than an indication that the administration’s strategies have been legally dubious.

“It’s very clear that there are judicial activists throughout our judicial branch who are trying to block this president’s executive authority. We are going to fight back,” Leavitt continued, underscoring the fact that Donald Trump has survived “nearly 200” legal challenges and has still ascended to the Oval Office.

But Leavitt’s argument that judicial pushback on Trump’s executive orders is somehow illegitimate ignores the fact that the three branches of government are designed to counterbalance one another. Judges are not supposed to bend to the will of a president’s agenda, but rather determine its legality based on legal precedent and the Constitution. Congress is also supposed to check the executive branch, but the Republican majorities in the House and Senate have effectively ceded that power to Trump, to curry favor with their constituents.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup ordered several agencies to “immediately” reinstate all fired probationary employees on Thursday, slamming the mass firing of federal employees as an “unlawful” directive by the Office of Personnel Management.

Those agencies included the Department of Veterans Affairs, as well as the departments of Defense, Energy, Interior, Treasury, and Agriculture. The order would also restore numbers at the IRS, which falls under the helm of the Treasury Department and has been hit hard by job cuts in recent weeks.

In a hearing leading up to the decision, Alsup torched the Trump administration’s decision not to submit OPM director Chad Ezell for questioning as a “sham,” and called the White House’s effort to cast the firings as performance failures as “a gimmick.”

Alsup’s order was delivered as federal agencies were due to submit “reduction memos” to the White House that could affect as many as 250,000 additional probationary federal employees.

Another Columbia University pro-Palestine activist has been arrested by immigration officials, the Department of Homeland Security announced Friday, as Trump issued an ultimatum to the university over its federal funding.

Officials arrested Leqaa Kordia, a Palestinian from the occupied West Bank, for overstaying her student visa. According to DHS, she had overstayed her visa, which was terminated in 2022 for “lack of attendance.” Kordia was also arrested in April 2024 for her involvement in protests at Columbia.

In addition, the Trump administration revoked the student visa of Columbia doctoral student Ranjani Srinivasan, an Indian citizen, on March 5. Srinivasan decided to self-deport, the department said.

In a statement, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said, “It is a privilege to be granted a visa to live and study in the United States of America. When you advocate for violence and terrorism, that privilege should be revoked, and you should not be in this country. I am glad to see one of the Columbia University terrorist sympathizers use the CBP Home App to self-deport.”

This comes as Trump on Thursday ordered Columbia to enact broad policy changes and place its Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies Department under “academic receivership” for at least five years—or risk losing all federal funding.

All of this follows the administration’s decision last week to detain legal permanent resident and Columbia graduate Mahmoud Khalil, who organized pro-Palestine protests at Columbia, in an effort to deport the activist. At the time, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, “We will be revoking the visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported.”

Trump also celebrated Khalil’s arrest and detention Monday, crowing on his Truth Social account and saying Khalil was the “first arrest of many to come.” Kordia’s arrest and Srinivasan’s visa revocation appear to be making good on Trump’s words. The administration appears to be making an example out of Columbia, which was home to one of the highest-profile protest encampments against Israel’s war in Gaza and in support of Palestinians.

Last week, the Trump administration canceled $400 million in federal grants to the university, a clear warning against any pro-Palestine activism at U.S. universities and in spite of Columbia’s crackdown on student activists. It appears that in Trump’s second term, the First Amendment to the Constitution is under threat at American colleges and universities, historically a home for activism.

Democrats are turning on Chuck Schumer, and Nancy Pelosi is leading the charge.

Schumer announced Thursday he would vote to pass Trump’s disastrous budget bill to avert a government shutdown, flipping on his own party just 24 hours after he signaled he would vote against the bill. Pelosi issued a statement the next day urging Senate Democrats not to follow his lead.

“Donald Trump and Elon Musk offered the Congress a false choice between a government shutdown or a blank check that makes a devastating assault on the well-being of working families across American,” Pelosi said in a statement.

“Let’s be clear: neither is a good option for the American people. But this false choice some are buying instead of fighting is unacceptable,” Pelosi continued, referencing Schumer’s betrayal. “I salute Leader Hakeem Jeffries for his courageous rejection of this false choice, and I am proud of my colleagues in the House Democratic Caucus for their overwhelming vote against this bill.”

The GOP bill would gut funding for health care, increase military spending, and fund mass deportation. It narrowly passed the Republican-led House, with just one Democrat voting to pass. Schumer argued that a government shutdown would give Trump and Elon Musk a “carte blanche” to gut federal services. Pelosi disagreed.

“Democratic senators should listen to the women,” she said, referring to Representatives Rosa DeLauro and Patty Murray, who have proposed a four-week funding extension to avert a shutdown and “negotiate a bi-partisan agreement.”

Pelosi is just the latest, but is arguably the most influential, Democrat to slam Schumer’s decision. The former House speaker infamously led the charge to oust Joe Biden as the Democratic leader leading up to last year’s election. She may be setting her sights on the House minority leader next.

“We must fight back for a better way, listen to the women, For the People,” she said.

Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency is now coming for the post office.

The New York Times reports that Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, appointed by Donald Trump in his first term and an advocate for privatizing the U.S. Postal Service, has made a deal with DOGE to assist in “identifying and achieving further efficiencies.”

DeJoy said in a letter Thursday that DOGE was “an effort aligned” with his own work in shrinking the USPS, noting that since the 2021 fiscal year, he had shrunk the postal service’s workforce by 30,000. DeJoy plans for a “further reduction of another 10,000 people in the next 30 days” as part of a one-time voluntary retirement program.

Musk also believes that the USPS should be privatized along with Amtrak, telling a tech conference last week that “we should privatize anything that can reasonably be privatized.” Trump has in the past suggested privatization as well as merging the USPS with the Commerce Department, and recently moved to cement his control of the agency.

Privatization has been flatly rejected by Democrats and unions, who say that it would raise prices, hurt postal workers, and negatively impact rural communities, who are served by USPS thanks to the Constitution and federal law. Representative Gerald Connolly, the ranking member on the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, criticized the DOGE deal Thursday in a statement.

The deal would have “catastrophic consequences for all Americans—especially those in rural and hard-to-reach areas—who rely on the Postal Service every day,” the statement said.

The “only thing worse for the Postal Service,” Connolly said, would be if Musk took over USPS, allowing him “undermine it, privatize it, and then profit off Americans’ loss.”

DOGE taking aim at the USPS is a worrying move, as private companies don’t serve many rural areas. Countless Americans depend on the postal service for medicine delivery, agricultural deliveries, and other business-critical services. Severe cutbacks would neglect the needs of Americans and create a less trustworthy service, ultimately setting the stage for privatization.

Dr. Mehmet Oz, Trump’s nominee to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, refused to say he will oppose cuts to Medicaid.

At his Senate confirmation hearing Friday, Oz went on and on about the pitfalls of the American health care system and the “generational opportunity” before him to help “people stay healthy for longer.”

“That’s why President Trump wants to love and cherish Medicare and Medicaid,” Oz said, as the president continues to push for a spending bill that would gut health care funding.

Democrats weren’t buying it.

“What I want to know, yes or no, if you cherish Medicaid, do you oppose cuts to Medicaid?” Senator Ron Wyden asked Oz.

The celebrity talk show host avoided the question, rambling on about his Ivy League education and experience as a medical practitioner.

“That’s not the question, Doctor, the question is will you oppose cuts to this program you say you cherish?” Wyden pressed.

“I want to make sure that patients today and in the future have resources today and in the future have resources to protect them,” Oz bluffed. “The way you protect Medicaid is making sure that it’s viable at every level, which includes having enough practitioners to afford the services, paying them enough to do what you request of them and making sure—”

Wyden cut him off. “Let the records show, I asked a witness who says he cherishes this program ‘Will you agree to oppose cuts?’ and he would not answer a yes or no question.”

Throughout the hearing, Oz echoed the GOP’s blatant lies about fraudulent claims in Medicaid and the need to stop “unscrupulous people from stealing from vulnerable Americans, and extend the life of the Medicare Trust Fund.” The program is the latest target of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency cuts, despite President Donald Trump repeatedly promising he wouldn’t touch it.

It’s clear Oz will be no defender of the safety net program that serves over 72 million Americans.