Federal judge issues 2nd preliminary injunction against Trump birthright citizenship order
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(SEATTLE, Wash.) — A federal judge in Seattle has issued a nationwide preliminary injunction against President Donald Trump’s executive order on birthright citizenship — one day after a judge in Maryland also issued a temporary block on the order.
“It has become ever more apparent that to our president, the rule of law is but an impediment to his policy goals,” Judge John Coughenour said.
“The constitution is not something with which the government may play policy games,” Coughenour added. “The preliminary injunction is granted on a nationwide basis.”
During the hearing, which lasted less than 20 minutes, an attorney representing the state attorneys general argued the preliminary injunction is necessary to protect the plaintiffs in the case.
“When we ratified the 14th Amendment, we rendered a collective judgment and a promise that would guide our nation into the future,” the attorney for the state attorneys general said. “It was a promise that citizenship at birth is beyond the power of the government to take away or destroy. The president and the executive branch cannot alone undo that judgment or that promise.”
Drew Ensign, an attorney for the Department of Justice, called the interpretation of the citizenship clause by the plaintiff “demonstrably and unequivocally incorrect” and argued the citizenship clause applies only “to those in the allegiance and under the protection of the country.” The DOJ has argued that a child born in the United States to a mother without legal status cannot receive citizenship unless his or her father is a citizen or green card holder.
When giving his ruling, Coughenour called birthright citizenship “a fundamental constitutional right.”
“There are moments in the world’s history when people look back and ask, ‘Where were the lawyers, where were the judges?'” Coughenour said. “In these moments, the rule of law becomes especially vulnerable. I refuse to let that beacon go dark today.”
(WASHINGTON ) — Three of President Donald Trump’s most controversial Cabinet picks will face the scrutiny of Senate committees this week — Tulsi Gabbard, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Kash Patel.
Director of national intelligence nominee Gabbard’s hearing will take place Thursday morning before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
The former Democratic congresswoman and onetime Democratic presidential candidate has stirred up waves of controversy from across the political spectrum and is expected to face a bruising confirmation battle. Not only are critics wary of her lack of intelligence experience, they have also accused her of promoting an anti-American agenda, including blaming the U.S. for the war in Ukraine and being sympathetic to U.S. adversaries.
Michigan Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin told ABC News’ Martha Raddatz on “This Week” on Sunday that she “do[es] not believe she’s qualified for this role.”
“From what I understand from people who have been meeting directly with her, and she hasn’t asked to meet with me, is that she doesn’t show the competence, the understanding, the depth. She wasn’t prepared for her meetings,” Slotkin said, pointing to Gabbard’s “deeply questionable decisions” over her relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad.
Republican Sen. Lindsay Graham remained tight-lipped about his stance on Gabbard, telling CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union” that “we will see how she does” when asked if he planned to support her.
Fellow Republican Sen. Tom Cotton, chairman of the Intelligence Committee, acknowledged concerns with Gabbard, telling Shannon Bream on “Fox News Sunday” that he “understand[s] that people have their differences of opinion” regarding her nomination.
However, he emphasized his faith in her record: “She’s passed five different background checks. I reviewed the latest one. It’s clean as a whistle,” he said. “It’s fine for people to have policy differences and ask questions about those differences. I hope no one would impugn Ms. Gabbard’s patriotism or her integrity.”
He also pointed to Pete Hegseth’s successful confirmation to become secretary of defense after a tie-breaking vote Friday despite the controversy that surrounded his nomination.
Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine — who was one of three Republicans who voted against Hegseth last week — expressed caution towards Gabbard.
“There are several questions I want to follow up on in the hearing,” Collins told The Hill on Monday, adding that there are “a lot of obvious issues” with the DNI nominee.
However, Vice President JD Vance remained adamant in supporting Trump’s nomination of Gabbard, telling CBS News’ Margaret Brennan on “Face the Nation” on Sunday, “I feel confident that Tulsi Gabbard will ultimately get through.”
“She is a career military servant who’s had a classification at the highest levels for nearly two decades. She has impeccable character, impeccable record of service, and she also is a person who I think is going to bring some trust back to the intelligence services,” Vance said during his first interview since becoming vice president.
Also on Thursday, FBI director nominee Kash Patel, who served in several roles in Trump’s first administration, will appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee for his confirmation hearing.
Patel’s nomination has similarly faced backlash, particularly regarding his promoting of conspiracy theories, his defense of Jan. 6 rioters and his threats to target journalists, former senior FBI and Department of Justice officials.
Sen. Dick Durbin, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, told reporters last week that he will not vote to advance Patel’s nomination.
“After meeting with him and doing this study, I’ve come to the conclusion that Kash Patel has neither the experience, the judgment or the temperament to serve as head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, to take on this awesome responsibility to keep America safe,” Durbin said.
Democratic Sen. Chris Coons, another member of the Judiciary Committee, called Patel’s nomination “alarming” after meeting with him last week.
Coons said he questioned Patel on efforts by Trump to use the FBI for political retribution, as well as his calling for the weaponization of the federal government against Trump’s political enemies.
“I left this meeting still concerned about Mr. Patel’s ability to put past grievances aside and focus the FBI on its core mission of keeping Americans safe,” he said in a statement.
Health and Human Services nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will face the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday morning. Kennedy has faced criticism over his history of remarks against vaccines and his recent vaccine skepticism. In addition to asking the federal government to revoke authorization of COVID-19 vaccines in 2021, and medical experts have expressed concerns over his views potentially spreading medical misinformation.
Kennedy continues to echo Trump’s views. On Sunday, he sent out a fundraising email called Trump’s executive order withdrawing the U.S. from the World Health Organization “a massive win” for Kennedy’s health agenda and for Americans’ “fundamental medical freedom rights.”
Trump’s withdrawal, which has been criticized by medical and health experts, “marks a turning point for our nation. No more subservience to a globalist organization prioritizing profits over American lives and health,” Kennedy said in his fundraiser.
Soldiers with the 82nd Airborne division walk across the tarmac at Green Ramp to deploy to Poland, Feb. 14, 2022, at Fort Bragg, Fayetteville, N.C./ Photo Credit: Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — Transgender service members represented by LGBTQ advocacy groups on Tuesday filed suit against the White House executive order that bans transgender people from serving in the military.
The order signed late Monday rescinded Biden administration policies that permitted transgender service members to serve openly according to their gender identity. The order said the “assertion” that one might identify as transgender would be a “falsehood … not consistent with the humility and selflessness required of a service member.”
Space Force Col. Bree Fram, a transgender woman who came out and transitioned while serving, told ABC News that banning transgender individuals from serving would bring a “collective harm to our national securit
Transgender troops “are meeting or exceeding the high standards the military has set for performance, and they’re doing so here at home, around the world, and in every service, every specialty that the military has to offer,” Fram said, who was speaking in her personal capacity and not on behalf of the Pentagon.
According to the suit filed Tuesday by plaintiffs represented by GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders Law and the National Center for Lesbian Rights, the order directs Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth “to reverse the current accession and retention standards for military service and to adopt instead a policy that transgender status is incompatible with ‘high standards'” that the executive order lays out.
Sasha Buchert, a senior attorney at Lambda Legal who represented plaintiffs who sued and temporarily blocked a similar order in 2017 in the first Trump administration, called the new order “cruel” and said it “compromises the safety of our country.”
She told ABC News the order “will force transgender service members to look over their shoulder” and “stamp them with [a] badge of inferiority.”
Buchert said her firm and the Human Rights Campaign also intend to file suit.
“We have been here before…as we promised then, so do we now: we will sue,” Buchert said.
Buchert said transgender troops will now “worry about…whether they’re going to have to end their illustrious military careers by being drummed out of the military.”
“Trans military folks have been serving now for 10 years, openly and proudly and deploying to austere environments and meeting every service-based standard that their peers can meet,” said Buchert, who is a veteran.
The executive order, paired with another that demands the dissolution of diversity, equity, and inclusion “bureaucracy” in the Defense Department, came on Hegseth’s first day of work at the Pentagon.
The Pentagon said in a statement to ABC News that it “will fully execute and implement all directives outlined” in all executive orders from the president.
The executive order does not make reference to transgender individuals. It directs the Pentagon to update guidelines around medical standards for individuals diagnosed with gender dysphoria, a precursor to transition care that affirms one’s gender.
According to a Defense official, 4,240 military personnel who are currently serving are diagnosed with gender dysphoria. Over a 10-year period since 2014, only a slightly higher total number of service members were diagnosed with gender dysphoria — 5,773.
Over that period, roughly 3,200 received gender-affirming hormone therapy, the official said, and about 1,000 received gender-affirming surgery.
The cost for both — as well as psychotherapy and other treatments over the last decade — was $52 million, or over $5 million per year.
Trump as a candidate said he would take aim at “transgender insanity” as president. The order says the military must root out “ideologies harmful to unit cohesion.”
The logic around cohesion is familiar, Buchert said.
“We’ve seen this as a country on many occasions. We’re still correcting improper discharges for people that were, you know, drummed out of the military based on discriminatory motives in the past,” she said.
Cassie Byard, a Navy veteran who served with a service member who was transgender, said she “never saw any adverse effect on readiness or cohesion.”
Fram believes openness about her identity has made her unit more cohesive.
“My being authentic is actually reflected back to me and builds the strong bonds of teamwork that we need at the military to succeed, because we need everyone to be able to bring their best self to work,” she said.
While the order brings a “period of uncertainty” as the Pentagon weighs updates to medical guidelines over a two-month window to implement it, Fram said “my job right now, and the job of every transgender service member, is simply to do our duty. It’s to lace up our boots and get to work and accomplish the mission that we’ve been given.”
“We swore an oath to uphold the duties that we’ve been given, [to] support the Constitution,” she added. “And we’re going to continue to do so, unless told otherwise.”
-ABC News’ Luis Martinez contributed to this report.
US President Joe Biden delivers a Farewell Address to the Nation inside of the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC on Wednesday, January 15, 2025. (Photo by Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden, in his farewell address, reflected on a decadeslong political career but also issued a stark warning to the nation as he prepares to cede power to President-elect Donald Trump.
Speaking from behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, Biden said he was proud of what his administration accomplished as the country climbed out of the coronavirus pandemic and made investments in the economy, infrastructure, gun safety, climate change and more.
“In the past four years, our democracy has held strong and every day I’ve kept my commitment to be president for all Americans for one of the toughest periods in our nation’s history,” Biden said.
He commended Vice President Kamala Harris as a “great partner” as she sat nearby alongside second gentleman Doug Emhoff, first lady Jill Biden and Hunter Biden.
Biden listed several of his key legislative wins, including lowering prescription drug prices, expanding benefits for military veterans exposed to burn pits, investing in domestic manufacturing of semiconductor chips and more. The impact of those policies, he noted, may not be fully realized for years to come.
He also briefly highlighted the ceasefire and hostage release deal reached by Israel and Hamas earlier Wednesday, a foreign policy goal of Biden’s for more than a year that became reality just days before his departure.
He touted working with the incoming Trump administration to see through its implementation. “That’s how it should be, working together,” Biden said.
But Biden spent the majority of his remarks on something he said caused him great concern — what he said was the concentration of power in the hands of a few wealthy individuals.
“Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead,” he said.
He spoke about the threat he said the wealthy posed to efforts to fight the dangers of climate change.
“Powerful forces want to wield their unchecked influence, to eliminate the steps we’ve taken to tackle the climate crisis, to serve their own interest for power and profit,” he said. “We must not be bullied into sacrificing the future, the future of our children and our grandchildren, must keep pushing forward and push faster. There’s no time to waste.”
Biden also raised concerns about the rise of artificial intelligence, and the possibilities and dangers advancing technologies posed. He lamented the rise in misinformation online and what he described as a “crumbling” free press that he said were enabling abuses of power.
“In his farewell address, President Eisenhower spoke of the dangers of the military industrial complex,” he said. “He warned us then about, and I quote, ‘the potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power’ … six decades later, I’m equally concerned about the potential rise of a tech-industrial complex that could pose real dangers for our country as well.”
Biden pushed for reforming the tax code so that billionaires pay their “fair share” and for amending the Constitution to make clear that no president is immune from criminal liability — an apparent slight at Trump, who was previously under federal indictment for his behavior after the 2020 election and is set to be sworn into office in five days.
“A president’s powers is not unlimited. It’s not absolute and it shouldn’t be,” Biden said. “And in a democracy, there’s another danger to the concentration of power and wealth. It erodes the sense of unity and common purpose. It causes distrust and division.”
“Participating in our democracy becomes exhausting and even disillusioning,” he continued. “And people don’t feel like they have a fair shot. We have to stay engaged in the process.”
In closing, Biden reflected on his own rise as a kid from Scranton plagued by a stutter to the nation’s highest office — one that he sought repeatedly during his five decades in politics and is leaving reluctantly after withdrawing from the 2024 campaign amid Democrats’ doubts.
He described America’s promise as a “constant struggle.”
“A short distance between peril and possibility,” he said. “But what I believe is the America of our dreams is always closer than we think. And it’s up to us to make our dreams come true.”
Ultimately, Biden asserted, it will be up to the president, Congress, the courts and the American people to stand up to those with ill-intent.
“Now, it’s your turn to stand guard,” Biden said. “May you all be the keeper of the flame. May you keep the faith. I love America, you love it, too.”
