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Bloomberg
15-06-2025
- Politics
- Bloomberg
‘No Kings' Rallies Draw Massive Crowds in US as Clashes Hit LA
Protesters filled streets in hundreds of cities across the US to oppose President Donald Trump's administration on Saturday, as he held a military parade in Washington. Anti-Trump activists, including labor unions and civil-rights groups, organized the nationwide demonstrations under the banner of 'No Kings,' denouncing what they say are Trump's authoritarian tendencies — and the parade being held on his 79th birthday.
Bloomberg
14-06-2025
- Politics
- Bloomberg
Anti-Trump Protesters Turn Out Across US at ‘No Kings' Rallies
A day of opposition to Donald Trump brought out protesters in hundreds of cities across the US on Saturday, creating a split-screen contrast with a military parade in Washington promoted by the president. Anti-Trump activists, including civil-rights groups and labor unions, organized the nationwide protest under the banner of 'No Kings,' denouncing what they say are Trump's authoritarian tendencies — and the parade being held on his 79th birthday.
Washington Post
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Judge blocks State Department from firing workers while injunction is in effect
A federal judge in San Francisco on Friday stopped Secretary of State Marco Rubio from proceeding with plans to downsize the State Department, saying that it was prohibited behavior under an injunction she issued last month. U.S. District Judge Susan Illston barred the Republican administration from carrying out much of its plans to reorganize and slash departments while she hears a legal challenge brought by labor unions and others. She said that President Donald Trump had failed to seek Congressional cooperation to do so when he ordered government-wide cuts. But, in late May, the State Department notified Congress of an updated reorganization of the agency that would cut programs and personnel even more deeply than previously revealed. Rubio this week also ordered U.S. embassies to fire all remaining staffers with the U.S. Agency for International Development . He said the State Department will take over USAID's foreign assistance programs by Monday. The Trump administration said Rubio had launched a reorganization of the State Department independently of the president's directive and so was exempt. Illston, who was nominated to the bench by former President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, was not convinced. 'If the State Department has any question about whether planned actions fall within the scope of the Court's injunction, the Court ORDERS the Department to first raise those questions with the Court before taking action,' she wrote in an order issued Friday. ___
Washington Post
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
A look at anti-ICE protests across the country, from New York to Seattle
Protests over the Trump administration's immigration enforcement have spread to cities across the United States, as the president warns that the deployment of national guards and Marines to quell demonstrations in Los Angeles should serve as a warning that similar ones would not be tolerated. Many of the protests this week have been organized by a variety of groups, including labor unions and the '50501' movement, a decentralized, grassroots campaign that has been organizing rallies against various Trump policies including immigration.
CBS News
06-06-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Supreme Court lets DOGE access sensitive Social Security Administration information
Washington — The Supreme Court on Friday cleared the way for the White House's Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, to access sensitive information kept by the Social Security Administration while legal proceedings move forward. In an unsigned order, the high court agreed to temporarily lift an injunction issued by a federal district court in Maryland that limited DOGE's access to agency systems of records containing the personal information of millions of Americans. Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented. "We conclude that, under the present circumstances, SSA may proceed to afford members of the SSA DOGE Team access to the agency records in question in order for those members to do their work," the Supreme Court said. The emergency appeal to the Supreme Court was the first to land before the high court that directly involved DOGE, the initiative previously led by Elon Musk that aims to shrink the size of the federal government. DOGE's sweeping efforts have sparked numerous lawsuits. Plaintiffs have argued that the task force has violated federal privacy law governing the government's collection and use of Americans' information kept by agencies. The lawsuit The challenge before the high court was brought by two labor unions and an advocacy group, which alleged that the Social Security Administration had unlawfully granted DOGE unfettered access to its data systems containing massive quantities of sensitive and personally identifiable records. In addition to Social Security numbers, the agency's systems house medical information, school records, employment histories and financial data, among other records. U.S. District Judge Ellen Hollander concluded in April that the plaintiffs were likely to succeed on their claim that the Social Security Administration's decision to give DOGE access to millions of Americans' confidential information violated the Privacy Act and a federal law governing the agency rulemaking process. She did allow DOGE team members to have access to redacted or anonymized information from the Social Security Administration, but only if they met certain conditions, such as undergoing trainings and background investigations. The full U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit declined a Trump administration request to lift that injunction, and the Justice Department turned to the Supreme Court for emergency relief. In asking the high court to lift the district court's injunction, Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued that the block is forcing the executive branch to stop federal employees tasked with modernizing government systems from accessing the data contained within them. "The government cannot eliminate waste and fraud if district courts bar the very agency personnel with expertise and the designated mission of curtailing such waste and fraud from performing their jobs," he said. Sauer also argued that the district court did not have the legal authority to issue sweeping relief, which he said harmed "urgent federal priorities" and thwarted the executive branch's functions. "Employees charged with modernizing government information systems and routing out fraud, waste, and abuse in data systems plainly need access to those systems," he wrote. "Yet the district court instead viewed agency employees within the SSA DOGE team as the equivalent of intruders who break into hotel rooms." But lawyers for the plaintiffs said that the Social Security Administration's efforts to give DOGE team members access to its data systems is a departure from the agency's commitment to data security. "SSA granted unprecedented and sweeping access to the most sensitive information held by the government, doing so without acknowledging the sea change in their own practices and policies, without considering the reliance interests millions of Americans have in SSA continuing to preserve the confidence of their information, and without acknowledging or considering the risks posed by unauthorized DOGE Team access," they wrote in a filing. The unions argued that their members' harm builds every day that DOGE has access to sensitive, personally identifiable information at the Social Security Administration, and said Americans' right to privacy is at stake. President Trump established DOGE on his first day back in the White House. The task force's employees have been dispatched to agencies across the executive branch as part of the president's plan to decrease the size of the government. But DOGE's efforts to access Americans' sensitive data at agencies including the Departments of Treasury and Education, and the Office of Personnel Management, have sparked legal fights over whether the task force's members have been complying with the Privacy Act, the federal law that aims to protect Americans' private information. Musk's previous work with DOGE, before he left government service last week, led to its own set of challenges that argue his actions violate the Constitution's Appointments Clause. A different federal judge in Maryland ruled in March that Musk and DOGE likely violated the Constitution through its unilateral shut down of the U.S. Agency for International Development. The 4th Circuit agreed to pause that decision while it considers an appeal by the Trump administration.
