Latest news with #JudgeGallagher
Daily Mail
14-06-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Trump administration wins court battle ahead of military parade
The Trump administration has won a court battle to gut the Department of Education as the president prepares to celebrate his birthday military parade . A Maryland federal court declined to block a sweeping round of layoffs at the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) - a quiet but crucial arm of the Department of Education that gathers and analyzes data on how American schools are performing. In April, two groups representing education researchers sued the government, claiming the Department had recklessly slashed 90 per cent of IES staff, canceled major research contracts, and put decades of valuable data at risk. They asked the court to reinstate the workers, revive the contracts, and stop any data from being destroyed. But Judge Stephanie Gallagher ruled against them, at least for now, saying the lawsuit was too broad, lacked hard evidence, and didn't clearly show any direct harm. 'The record in this case underscores that it is poorly suited for preliminary relief,' Gallagher wrote in a 13-page opinion. Still, she didn't hold back in raising alarm bells over the Trump administration's actions - warning that the agency, now gutted, may no longer be able to fulfill its mission. 'IES is not doing a number of tasks Congress requires of it,' she noted. 'It has likely gone too far in downsizing.' The judge stressed that her ruling doesn't mean the case is over. She said the matter needs to go to trial with a full set of facts, and signaled that both sides may have to compromise. The court has given both parties until June 19 to lay out a schedule for the next steps - setting the stage for a high-stakes legal showdown over whether the Trump team has unlawfully gutted one of the government's main education watchdogs. The ruling comes just days before Trump's long-anticipated military parade, billed as a show of national might and administrative overhaul as he begins the second phase of his second term. But stormy skies could rain on the spectacle. Lightning in the area would force the Pentagon to delay the parade's marquee events - including flyovers and parachute jumps along Constitution Avenue. Still, Trump made it clear Saturday morning that the show would proceed. 'OUR GREAT MILITARY PARADE IS ON, RAIN OR SHINE. REMEMBER, A RAINY DAY PERADE BRINGS GOOD LUCK. I'LL SEE YOU ALL IN D.C.' he posted on Truth Social - fixing the spelling of 'perade' in a second post. The parade will be the largest military presence on D.C. streets since the Gulf War victory celebration in 1991 - and falls on Trump's 79th birthday . Though he's denied it's a personal celebration, he'll be front and center: delivering remarks, accepting a folded flag from a parachutist, and leading an enlistment and reenlistment ceremony. According to the Associated Press, the event will feature 6,700 troops, 150 vehicles, and 50 aircraft. The court decision coincides with a damning new report showing the Department of Education is spending $7 million a month on employees who aren't working - part of the Trump administration's controversial deferred resignation program. According to calculations by the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 252, the department has spent over $21 million in just three months on idle employees, many of whom accepted Trump's offer to voluntarily leave their posts while continuing to receive pay through September 2025. Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, chair of the Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency (DOGE), defended Trump's deferred resignation plan - which allows federal employees to leave their posts while still collecting pay - but blamed the courts for delaying further cuts. She said the judiciary was standing in the way of what voters elected Trump to do: slash bloated federal departments, including the Department of Education. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) echoed the criticism, calling the $7 million-a-month figure a 'slap in the face' to taxpayers. She accused federal workers of abusing paid leave and pledged to work with the Trump administration to overhaul Washington's bureaucracy. At her confirmation hearing in February, Education Secretary Linda McMahon backed Trump's promise to eliminate the department entirely - saying he intended to work with Congress to make it happen. An estimated 75,000 federal employees accepted the administration's deferred resignation offer across various agencies. But Democrats blasted the cuts in a letter to McMahon, calling the 1,300 affected DOE workers 'dedicated public servants' and warning the layoffs endangered vital education services. With a trial looming and tens of millions in taxpayer dollars at stake, the battle over the future of the Department of Education is far from over.
Daily Mail
14-06-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Trump White House wins major victory ahead of military parade in attempt to eliminate entire government department
The Trump administration has won a court battle to gut the Department of Education as the president prepares to celebrate his birthday military parade. A Maryland federal court declined to block a sweeping round of layoffs at the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) - a quiet but crucial arm of the Department of Education that gathers and analyzes data on how American schools are performing. In April, two groups representing education researchers sued the government, claiming the Department had recklessly slashed 90 per cent of IES staff, canceled major research contracts, and put decades of valuable data at risk. They asked the court to reinstate the workers, revive the contracts, and stop any data from being destroyed. But Judge Stephanie Gallagher ruled against them, at least for now, saying the lawsuit was too broad, lacked hard evidence, and didn't clearly show any direct harm. 'The record in this case underscores that it is poorly suited for preliminary relief,' Gallagher wrote in a 13-page opinion. Still, she didn't hold back in raising alarm bells over the Trump administration's actions - warning that the agency, now gutted, may no longer be able to fulfill its mission. 'IES is not doing a number of tasks Congress requires of it,' she noted. 'It has likely gone too far in downsizing.' The judge stressed that her ruling doesn't mean the case is over. She said the matter needs to go to trial with a full set of facts, and signaled that both sides may have to compromise. The court has given both parties until June 19 to lay out a schedule for the next steps - setting the stage for a high-stakes legal showdown over whether the Trump team has unlawfully gutted one of the government's main education watchdogs. The ruling comes just days before Trump's long-anticipated military parade, billed as a show of national might and administrative overhaul as he begins the second phase of his second term. But stormy skies could rain on the spectacle. Lightning in the area would force the Pentagon to delay the parade's marquee events - including flyovers and parachute jumps along Constitution Avenue. Still, Trump made it clear Saturday morning that the show would proceed. 'OUR GREAT MILITARY PARADE IS ON, RAIN OR SHINE. REMEMBER, A RAINY DAY PERADE BRINGS GOOD LUCK. I'LL SEE YOU ALL IN D.C.' he posted on Truth Social - fixing the spelling of 'perade' in a second post. The parade will be the largest military presence on D.C. streets since the Gulf War victory celebration in 1991 - and falls on Trump's 79th birthday. Though he's denied it's a personal celebration, he'll be front and center: delivering remarks, accepting a folded flag from a parachutist, and leading an enlistment and reenlistment ceremony. According to the Associated Press, the event will feature 6,700 troops, 150 vehicles, and 50 aircraft. The court decision coincides with a damning new report showing the Department of Education is spending $7 million a month on employees who aren't working - part of the Trump administration's controversial deferred resignation program. According to calculations by the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 252, the department has spent over $21 million in just three months on idle employees, many of whom accepted Trump's offer to voluntarily leave their posts while continuing to receive pay through September 2025. Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, chair of the Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency (DOGE), defended Trump's deferred resignation plan - which allows federal employees to leave their posts while still collecting pay - but blamed the courts for delaying further cuts. She said the judiciary was standing in the way of what voters elected Trump to do: slash bloated federal departments, including the Department of Education. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) echoed the criticism, calling the $7 million-a-month figure a 'slap in the face' to taxpayers. She accused federal workers of abusing paid leave and pledged to work with the Trump administration to overhaul Washington's bureaucracy. At her confirmation hearing in February, Education Secretary Linda McMahon backed Trump's promise to eliminate the department entirely - saying he intended to work with Congress to make it happen. An estimated 75,000 federal employees accepted the administration's deferred resignation offer across various agencies. But Democrats blasted the cuts in a letter to McMahon, calling the 1,300 affected DOE workers 'dedicated public servants' and warning the layoffs endangered vital education services. With a trial looming and tens of millions in taxpayer dollars at stake, the battle over the future of the Department of Education is far from over.
CNN
19-05-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Appeals court won't lift order requiring Trump to facilitate return of asylum seeker deported to El Salvador
A divided federal appeals court on Monday rejected a request from the Trump administration to put on hold a judge's order requiring the government to 'facilitate' the return of a 20-year-old Venezuelan refugee who was deported earlier this year to El Salvador. The 2-1 ruling from the 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals tees up a likely showdown at the Supreme Court over the order issued in April by US District Judge Stephanie Gallagher, who said the administration had violated a court settlement protecting some young migrants with pending asylum claims when it deported the man, referred to only as 'Cristian' in court filings, and directed it to work with Salvadorean officials to bring him back to the US. The high court had endorsed a similar, yet less specific, order from a different federal judge earlier this year in a separate case of a man unlawfully deported to the Central American country. Appeals court Judge DeAndrea Gist Benjamin, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, and Judge Roger Gregory, who was nominated to the court by former President Bill Clinton, voted in favor of keeping Gallagher's order intact. Judge Julius Richardson, who was appointed to the 4th Circuit by President Donald Trump, dissented. In a scathing solo concurrence, Gregory was critical of the administration's argument that the lower-court order should be put on hold because the government had made an 'indicative decision' that Cristian's asylum application would be denied if he returned to the US based on its claim that he's a member of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. That argument similarly had no sway when the administration asked Gallagher to undo her order. 'As is becoming far too common, we are confronted again with the efforts of the Executive Branch to set aside the rule of law in pursuit of its goals,' Gregory wrote. 'It is the duty of courts to stand as a bulwark against the political tides that seek to override constitutional protections and fundamental principles of law, even in the name of noble ends like public safety.' He continued: 'The district court faithfully applied the contractual provisions in dispute here, and it properly ordered the United States to remedy the violation of its explicit promises.' Writing in dissent, Richardson said Gallagher, a Trump appointee who sits in the federal courthouse in Baltimore, had overstepped when she issued the 'novel' ruling requiring Trump administration officials to make 'a good faith request … to the government of El Salvador to release Cristian to U.S. custody for transport back to the United States.' 'Many options may be available to district courts seeking to craft appropriate relief in response to deportations they find unlawful,' he wrote. 'But directing diplomatic negotiations to the Executive Branch is not among them.' Cristian was among the group of migrants who were deported in mid-March under the Alien Enemies Act, a sweeping 18th Century wartime authority Trump invoked to speed up removals of individuals it claims are members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. During a hearing earlier this month, Gallagher said officials had done virtually nothing to comply with her directive that it 'facilitate' Cristian's return to the US from the mega-prison in El Salvador where he was sent so he can have his asylum application resolved. She emphasized that while the administration may have deemed him a member of the Venezuelan gang, the settlement agreement he was covered under, which was finalized in November, did not include an exception for any use of that law. 'Process,' she said at the time, 'is important.' Benjamin agreed. 'The removal denied Cristian the chance to dispute on the merits the very accusations the Government now puts forth on appeal to justify its breach,' she wrote in a concurrence that was joined by Gregory. 'The Government's breach denied Cristian the benefit of the bargain and the process he was due.'
CNN
19-05-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Appeals court won't lift order requiring Trump to facilitate return of asylum seeker deported to El Salvador
A divided federal appeals court on Monday rejected a request from the Trump administration to put on hold a judge's order requiring the government to 'facilitate' the return of a 20-year-old Venezuelan refugee who was deported earlier this year to El Salvador. The 2-1 ruling from the 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals tees up a likely showdown at the Supreme Court over the order issued in April by US District Judge Stephanie Gallagher, who said the administration had violated a court settlement protecting some young migrants with pending asylum claims when it deported the man, referred to only as 'Cristian' in court filings, and directed it to work with Salvadorean officials to bring him back to the US. The high court had endorsed a similar, yet less specific, order from a different federal judge earlier this year in a separate case of a man unlawfully deported to the Central American country. Appeals court Judge DeAndrea Gist Benjamin, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, and Judge Roger Gregory, who was nominated to the court by former President Bill Clinton, voted in favor of keeping Gallagher's order intact. Judge Julius Richardson, who was appointed to the 4th Circuit by President Donald Trump, dissented. In a scathing solo concurrence, Gregory was critical of the administration's argument that the lower-court order should be put on hold because the government had made an 'indicative decision' that Cristian's asylum application would be denied if he returned to the US based on its claim that he's a member of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. That argument similarly had no sway when the administration asked Gallagher to undo her order. 'As is becoming far too common, we are confronted again with the efforts of the Executive Branch to set aside the rule of law in pursuit of its goals,' Gregory wrote. 'It is the duty of courts to stand as a bulwark against the political tides that seek to override constitutional protections and fundamental principles of law, even in the name of noble ends like public safety.' He continued: 'The district court faithfully applied the contractual provisions in dispute here, and it properly ordered the United States to remedy the violation of its explicit promises.' Writing in dissent, Richardson said Gallagher, a Trump appointee who sits in the federal courthouse in Baltimore, had overstepped when she issued the 'novel' ruling requiring Trump administration officials to make 'a good faith request … to the government of El Salvador to release Cristian to U.S. custody for transport back to the United States.' 'Many options may be available to district courts seeking to craft appropriate relief in response to deportations they find unlawful,' he wrote. 'But directing diplomatic negotiations to the Executive Branch is not among them.' Cristian was among the group of migrants who were deported in mid-March under the Alien Enemies Act, a sweeping 18th Century wartime authority Trump invoked to speed up removals of individuals it claims are members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. During a hearing earlier this month, Gallagher said officials had done virtually nothing to comply with her directive that it 'facilitate' Cristian's return to the US from the mega-prison in El Salvador where he was sent so he can have his asylum application resolved. She emphasized that while the administration may have deemed him a member of the Venezuelan gang, the settlement agreement he was covered under, which was finalized in November, did not include an exception for any use of that law. 'Process,' she said at the time, 'is important.' Benjamin agreed. 'The removal denied Cristian the chance to dispute on the merits the very accusations the Government now puts forth on appeal to justify its breach,' she wrote in a concurrence that was joined by Gregory. 'The Government's breach denied Cristian the benefit of the bargain and the process he was due.'
Washington Post
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Judge presses Trump administration on returning 2nd wrongly deported man
A federal judge in Maryland refused Tuesday to lift her order requiring the Trump administration to facilitate the return of a Venezuelan man who officials deported to El Salvador nearly two months ago in violation of a legal settlement. U.S. District Judge Stephanie Gallagher rejected government arguments that retrieving the man — a 20-year-old identified in court papers only as 'Cristian' — was pointless because a Department of Homeland Security agency determined last week that he would not qualify for asylum anyway.
