Federal judge hands Musk’s DOGE a win on data access at 3 agencies
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(WASHINGTON) — Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency can continue to access sensitive records from at least three federal agencies after a federal judge in Washington denied a request to block Musk’s budget-slashing team from the Department of Labor, Department of Health and Human Services and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
U.S. District Judge John Bates, in a late-night ruling, denied a request made by a group of unions and nonprofits to issue a temporary order blocking DOGE from the sensitive records maintained by the three agencies.
Elon Musk has repeatedly targeted Bates over the last week on X – including calling for the judge’s impeachment – after Bates issued a decision in another case ordering multiple agencies to restore public health data after the Trump administration suddenly removed it.
“There needs to be an immediate wave of judicial impeachments, not just one,” Musk wrote on Wednesday in response to a post about the judge.
The tech billionaire celebrated Friday’s ruling in a post on X.
The judge’s decision came down to the question of whether DOGE has the authority to “detail” its people to individual parts of the federal government where – as employees of that department or agency – the individuals associated with DOGE could legally access the sensitive records. To have that authority, DOGE would have to be considered an “agency” in the eyes of the law, Bates wrote.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs argued that DOGE is not an agency — because it was created via an executive order — and therefore is not entitled to detail its employees to parts of the federal government.
Curiously, lawyers for DOGE have attempted to avoid the “agency” label during court hearings despite its “strong claim” to agency status, Bates wrote.
“This appears to come from a desire to escape the obligations that accompany agencyhood” — such as being subject to the Freedom of Information Act, the Privacy Act and the Administrative Procedures Act — “while reaping only its benefits,” the judge wrote.
Ultimately, the disagreed with DOGE’s own interpretation of its status — determining it likely is an “agency” — and delivering it a surprise win by determining that DOGE has the authority to continue to access to sensitive records.
“For the reasons explained above, on the record as it currently stands and with limited briefing on the issue, the case law defining agencies indicates that plaintiffs have not shown a substantial likelihood that [DOGE] is not an agency. If that is so, [DOGE] may detail its employees to other agencies consistent with the Economy Act,” he wrote.
(WASHINGTON) — The chief of the criminal division at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Washington, D.C. abruptly resigned Tuesday amid pressure from top Trump Justice Department appointees to freeze assets stemming from a Biden administration-era environmental initiative, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
A resignation letter sent to the office’s employees by prosecutor Denise Cheung did not detail specific reasons for her sudden departure from the office, but encouraged prosecutors to continue adhering to the Constitution.
“Please continue to support one another, to fulfill your commitment to pursuing justice without fear or prejudice, and to be kind to, and take care of, yourselves,” Cheung said. “You are the resource our nation has.”
Sources familiar with the matter told ABC News that Cheung was under pressure from Department of Justice (DOJ) leadership, including acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove and interim U.S. Attorney Ed Martin, to launch a formal criminal investigation into an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) funding initiative pursued under the Biden administration, a request Cheung believed lacked the proper predication to initiate a grand jury investigation.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has previously addressed with DOJ their effort to rescind contracts tied to the so-called Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. DOJ’s intervention in the process can only come when prosecutors can credibly allege that the funds are tied to a crime.
Cheung’s resignation letter comes just one day after President Trump announced Martin as his nominee for U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C. amid a wave of controversial actions and statements by Martin in his weeks leading the office, actions that have led to growing consternation among career prosecutors.
As ABC News has previously reported, Martin has represented defendants charged in connection with the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol and was on Capitol grounds himself on that day, though it’s unclear whether he ever entered areas officially designated as restricted.
A Justice Department spokesperson did not immediately respond to an ABC News request for comment.
(WASHINGTON) — Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination to serve as secretary of Health and Human Services was narrowly confirmed by the Senate on Thursday.
The final vote was 52 to 48.
Sen. Mitch McConnell, who overcame polio at a young age, was the sole Republican to oppose Kennedy and vote no. Democrats were unanimous in their opposition to Kennedy.
In a statement outlining his decision, McConnell cited his childhood experience with the disease and said he will “not condone the re-litigation of proven cures.”
“Mr. Kennedy failed to prove he is the best possible person to lead America’s largest health agency,” McConnell said. “As he takes office, I sincerely hope Mr. Kennedy will choose not to sow further doubt and division but to restore trust in our public health institutions.”
Kennedy’s confirmation comes after months of controversy and debate, largely focused on his past comments casting doubt on the safety and efficacy of vaccines.
An environmental lawyer with no experience working in health administration or medicine, Kennedy will now oversee a sprawling network of agencies that provide health coverage to millions of Americans, regulate the food industry and respond to global health threats.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, during an appearance on Fox News, said Kennedy is expected to be sworn in later Thursday at the White House. Leavitt also said Trump is expected to sign an executive order establishing a “Make America Healthy Again” commission.
President Donald Trump embraced Kennedy on the campaign trail after the scion of America’s most famous Democratic dynasty dropped his own independent bid for president and endorsed Trump.
Shortly after the election, Trump tapped Kennedy to lead HHS and promised to let him “go wild” on health.
During his confirmation hearings, Kennedy was grilled on his past claims about vaccinations, including his unfounded claims linking them to autism.
In a shift from previous statements, Kennedy voiced support for polio and measles immunizations. He told lawmakers he was not “anti-vaccine” but rather “pro-safety.” Though, he still refused to say that vaccines were not linked to autism or that COVID-19 vaccines saved lives.
But the comments appeared enough for some skeptical Republican senators to come to his side. Trump and Vice President JD Vance also called senators to rally support for Kennedy.
Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy, a longtime physician and vaccine advocate who openly struggled with Kennedy’s nomination, voted to report his nomination out of committee and to the Senate floor.
Cassidy said he received several commitments from Kennedy, including meetings several times a month and advance notice to Congress if HHS plans to seek any changes to vaccine programs.
Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, considered another swing vote, earlier this week announced she’d vote for Kennedy after raising concerns about the Trump administration’s directive for the National Institutes of Health to cut support for health research at universities. (The policy has been temporarily blocked by a federal judge).
“He said he would re-examine them and seemed to understand,” Collins said of Kennedy.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., had made a final plea to his colleagues shortly before the vote to oppose Kennedy.
“A vote to confirm Mr. Kennedy is a vote to make America sicker,” Schumer said.
(NEW YORK) — Latino and immigrant lawmakers are sounding the alarm as their school districts brace for deportations in the second Trump administration.
“Think about that — that nothing is off limits, that raids could go and happen in our public schools,” New York Rep. Nydia Velazquez said. “You know, that is the point: cruelty. You got to be heartless to say publicly that we are going to send ICE to our schools — heartless.”
In its first press conference of the 119th Congress, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus condemned President Donald Trump’s immigration executive orders and the Department of Homeland Security revoking long-standing restrictions that thwarted Immigration and Customs Enforcement from conducting raids on schools and other sensitive areas.
“[Trump] says he’s targeting criminals, but he just removed the restrictions that stopped ICE from conducting raids on schools, on hospitals and in churches,” Texas Rep. Joaquin Castro said at the more-than-hourlong presser. “I would ask you who he believes among those kids is a criminal sitting in a first grade class. Who are the criminals that he’s going after in the Catholic Church, in the Presbyterian Church, in the nondenominational churches? Who are those criminals?”
Acting Homeland Security Secretary Benjamine Huffman said that to curb the “invasion” at the border, the policy is needed to “return the humanitarian parole program to its original purpose of looking at migrants on a case-by-case basis.”
“This action empowers the brave men and women in CBP and ICE to enforce our immigration laws and catch criminal aliens — including murders and rapists — who have illegally come into our country. Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest,” Huffman wrote in a statement on Tuesday.
ABC News contributor John Cohen said he’s worked in law enforcement and homeland security for over four decades and has not seen any intelligence or evidence to support that the majority of persons crossing the southern border are murderers, rapist, gang members or terrorists or that they are hiding in churches and schools.
According to education experts such as Immschools founder Viridiana Carrizales, whose organization partners with school districts to create more welcoming and safe schools for immigrant K-12 students, Trump’s large-scale operation is worrying some families who dealt with the “real fear” of deportations during Trump’s first term.
“They know that this has happened in the past,” Carrizales told ABC News.
“It could maybe pose a threat and become even more real, or even more heightened or intense, than what they [undocumented families] experienced in 2017,” she said.
The debate over immigration is now finding its way inside the classroom, especially in border states nationwide, for these lawmakers and their undocumented constituents.
In California, the San Diego and Fresno unified school districts, the state’s second and third largest districts, are actively sharing immigration support and resources so that its families know their rights.
During a board meeting on the district’s recommitment to being a welcoming environment, Fabiola Bagula, interim superintendent of the San Diego Unified School District, said students have to be met with “unwavering care” during uncertain times.
“You can hold the need for having some sort of radical immigration reform, but you also need to uphold the safety of each student that enters our buildings,” Bagula said.
California Rep. Juan Vargas, a Democrat, slammed DHS and Republicans for their stance on immigration.
“Schools, places of worship, and hospitals provide essential services to all,” Vargas posted on X. “They should not be sites of immigration enforcement.”
Immigrant sanctuary cities are also having to address the threat of ICE showing up at schools. New York City Public Schools on Friday circulated resources for what to do if ICE officers show up at schools. It is also holding a “Know Their Rights” town hall next week.
Texas lawmakers aim to prevent ICE raids from disrupting schools, too.
“Just because ICE comes knocking on the door doesn’t mean you have to open it,” Texas Rep. Sylvia Garcia said.
Garcia told ABC News she is holding a “Know Your Rights” workshop on Capitol Hill next week with representatives from the Houston Independent School District.
“We’ve embarked on an education campaign to make sure that the school districts know what they should or shouldn’t do,” Garcia said. “I don’t know what they’re [DHS] going to do with them, but just because they’re going to send them to school doesn’t mean school stops. So I think there’s some do’s and don’ts, there’s some rights and responsibilities. And what’s important is an education campaign, and that’s what we’re doing now.”
The deportation plans exacerbated Texas educator and DACA recipient Karen Reyes’ and her students’ anxieties.
“I sometimes find myself thinking ‘Will my family experience this? Will my students? How will I explain what deportation is if it impacts someone in my classroom?'” Reyes said in a statement obtained by ABC News.
The National Parents Union also condemned the announcement allowing law enforcement to make arrests at schools.
“Law abiding individuals and their families should be treated humanely and with dignity,” the union wrote in a statement. “The decision to go after families in safe places sends a disgraceful message that threatens to emotionally scar young children whose families may be deported and other young children caught up in the crossfire.”
Meanwhile, Washington Rep. Emily Randall is working with school districts to confront the challenges ahead.
“This is only making students feel less safe in their classrooms and families less safe sending their kids to school,” she said. “Now that schools are no longer safe, folks are even more concerned, so we are having some of those conversations [with school leaders].”
