Polish Supreme Court Validates Nawrocki's Presidential Victory
The ruling opens the way for Nawrocki, a conservative historian fronted by the Law & Justice party, to be sworn in by parliament and take office as planned on Aug. 6.
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New York Times
30 minutes ago
- New York Times
States Sue to Block Trump Law Defunding Planned Parenthood
A coalition of Democratic-led states sued the Trump administration on Tuesday over Republican efforts to defund Planned Parenthood by using Medicaid payments as a cudgel. The new lawsuit, filed in Massachusetts, comes on top of a challenge brought by Planned Parenthood itself. Both lawsuits target a provision in President Trump's signature policy law that would effectively withhold Medicaid funds from affiliated clinics across the country, a move that the organization contends could shutter a number of locations and leave thousands without access to basic health care. A day ago, a federal judge blocked the Trump administration from implementing the president's policy, finding that the provision, as written by Republican lawmakers, appeared to be an unlawful act of retaliation that violated Planned Parenthood's freedom of political expression. But during a news conference announcing the lawsuit, Rob Bonta, the California attorney general, said that the legal atmosphere in the United States had grown so unpredictable that a second challenge was prudent. He cited the raft of emergency rulings by the Supreme Court siding with the Trump administration this year, as well as the Justice Department's pattern of seeking quick appeals to overturn lower court decisions that had previously halted the president's policies from taking effect. 'Who knows what decision will be made down the line?' he said. 'It's important that everyone who is harmed, everyone who is treated unlawfully — here Planned Parenthood, as well as the state of California — bring their case.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Politico
an hour ago
- Politico
Bondi opens new front in sanctuary state war
SANCTUARY STANDOFF: Donald Trump has long excoriated California's sanctuary state immigration law, and now his administration is openly challenging local law enforcement to violate it. Attorney General Pam Bondi recently sent letters to sheriffs in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Riverside and San Diego counties saying they have 30 days to share a litany of information about immigrants in their jails. This includes a list of those who aren't citizens, crimes for which they've been arrested or convicted and their release dates. 'I hope that you will voluntarily produce this requested information in furtherance of our shared duty to keep the citizens of San Francisco County safe and secure,' Bondi said in one letter. 'But if you refuse to voluntarily produce this information, the Department of Justice will pursue all available means of obtaining it, including subpoenas or other compulsory process.' But doing so would violate SB 54, which California leaders approved during Trump's first term. It prohibits local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration officers in most cases. Police and sheriff's deputies aren't allowed to ask those they arrest about their immigration status, and they can only disclose release dates and other jail information if it's related to inmates convicted of serious crimes. The sanctuary law has withstood legal challenges, with the Supreme Court declining to review it in 2020. This leaves Bondi to pressure local officials into a kind of pick-your-poison standoff — either with the state or with the federal government. The California Department of Justice will 'review [Bondi's] directive and monitor its implementation for compliance with the law,' said Nina Sheridan, a DOJ spokesperson. 'President Trump and his Department of Justice cannot bully our local law enforcement into breaking the law,' Sheridan said in a statement. So far, the officials who've received the letters aren't exactly jumping at the chance to share information with the attorney general. When asked about the letter last week, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said during a press conference he hadn't yet received it and would be consulting with county attorneys about the kinds of information he could legally release. The sheriff's department uploads fingerprints for those in custody to a national database that's shared with state, regional and federal law enforcement, Luna said. It also already posts inmates' names, booking numbers and release dates online. But Luna emphasized his department doesn't collect immigration status information. 'For those who ask us, 'Hey, how many people do you have in custody that are immigrants?' We don't know the answer to that, because none of us ask that question,' he said. Similarly, San Francisco County Sheriff Paul Miyamoto said in a statement to Playbook that federal officials already have the identity and fingerprints of everyone in the county's jail. They can use a warrant or a court order to arrest people, and the sheriff's office will 'respond to any request for information consistent with local, state, and federal law.' 'My priority is public safety — not politics,' Miyamoto said. 'And we will not foster fear in immigrant communities by acting as an arm of immigration enforcement.' The San Diego County Sheriff's Office did not respond to a request for comment. Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco — a Republican who's running for California governor and has been highly critical of SB 54 — was more opaque when asked about the letter. Lt. Deirdre Vickers, a sheriff's office spokesperson, said in a statement they would 'cooperate with the federal government within the confines of state law.' Asked for more specifics about the kind of information the office would provide, Bianco called Vickers' statement 'a very plain and complete answer.' 'I guess it's just not suitable for an anti-law enforcement bias looking for a gotcha or a sensationalistic headline,' he said in an email. IT'S TUESDAY AFTERNOON. This is California Playbook PM, a POLITICO newsletter that serves as an afternoon temperature check on California politics and a look at what our policy reporters are watching. Got tips or suggestions? Shoot an email to lholden@ WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY KEEPING BILL: Bill Essayli will become acting U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, a spokesperson for the Justice Department confirmed. The move seems to follow the same playbook that the Trump administration has used to work around expiring appointments by Bondi. If this sounds confusing to you, that's because Essayli has been the District's interim attorney since April when he was appointed by Bondi. Federal law says that appointment expires after 120 days, which would be this week. After that interim period, courts have the option to appoint someone else to serve until the vacancy is filled. In this case, Fox News and the Los Angeles Times report that the judges decided not to act. This new appointment will seemingly give Essayli 210 more days. The Trump administration has acted similarly in New Jersey and New York, an unconventional move to keep nominees in their temporary position. In New Jersey, they are challenging the move in court. The U.S. Attorney's office referred all questions to the White House, which did not respond to comment. The Trump administration has yet to officially nominate Essayli for the position, which prevents him from getting an official nomination hearing with the Senate Judiciary Committee. — Nicole Norman IN OTHER NEWS SETTLING UP: UCLA has agreed to pay $6.5 million to settle a lawsuit Jewish students and a professor filed against the school over pro-Palestinian encampments on campus during protests last year, our Eric He reports for POLITICO Pro subscribers. The lawsuit, which was filed following weeks of upheaval as demonstrations against Israel's war against Hamas consumed the campus, alleged that university officials did not protect the plaintiffs from discrimination by protesters. The students and professor claimed 'checkpoints' set up by protesters prevented them from accessing parts of campus. The proposed settlement, which still must be approved by a judge, comes months after the Trump administration filed a statement of interest in the case voicing support for the plaintiffs. FUNDING FIGHT: Bonta and 22 other Democratic attorneys general and governors are suing the Trump administration over a bid to strip federal funds from Planned Parenthood clinics, our Rachel Bluth reports. 'We need to just call it what it is: punishment for Planned Parenthood's constitutionally protected advocacy for abortion,' Bonta said at a press conference Tuesday morning. 'The hypocrisy is really hard to ignore: a party that claims to be defenders of free speech only seem to care about it when it aligns with their own agenda.' Congressional Republicans have wanted to cut funding to Planned Parenthood since Trump's first term. If they're successful, about 200 of the 600 clinics the nonprofit operates around the country could close, with over half of them in California. 'California is the most impacted state in the country,' said Jodi Hicks, CEO of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California. 'It's important to have a California lens on this.' WHAT WE'RE READING TODAY — San Francisco has made it easier for residents to report concerns about homeless people through the city's app for non-emergency complaints. (San Francisco Chronicle) — A San Jose-based company that makes chip design tools pleaded guilty to charges accusing it of supplying hardware and software to China's National University of Defense Technology. (Bloomberg) AROUND THE STATE — Declining demand for farmers' wine grapes have left some vineyards minimally cared for in the San Joaquin Valley, the state's leading producer of lower value wine grapes. (The Fresno Bee) — Government budget cuts have forced a pullback of a temporary housing subsidy program aimed at tackling homelessness. (Los Angeles Times) — San Diego's downtown, Bankers Hill, Hillcrest and North Park have had a homebuilding boost as the region pushes to accelerate residential development, a new analysis shows. (Voice of San Diego) — compiled by Juliann Ventura
The Hill
an hour ago
- The Hill
Federal agency sued for failing to enforce employment protections for transgender workers
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency responsible for enforcing laws against workplace discrimination, has refused since January to fully enforce employment protections for transgender workers, two left-leaning legal organizations argue in a new lawsuit. A complaint filed Tuesday by Democracy Forward and the National Women's Law Center (NWLC) on behalf of FreeState Justice, a Maryland nonprofit, alleges the EEOC and its acting chair, Andrea Lucas, are violating federal civil rights law, the Constitution and Supreme Court precedent by declining to process certain discrimination complaints raised by transgender workers. The EEOC first halted the charge-investigation process for charges tied to sexual orientation or gender identity in January, the lawsuit alleges, following an executive order from President Trump declaring that the U.S. recognizes only two unchangeable sexes, male and female. In April, the agency directed staff to classify charges of gender identity discrimination as meritless and put them on hold, the Associated Press reported at the time. In a July email to staff that was first reported by the Washington Post, Thomas Colclough, director of the EEOC's field operations, said the agency would only process cases that 'fall squarely' under the Supreme Court's 2020 ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County, which found that firing transgender workers because of their gender identity violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The agency would process standalone hiring, dismissal and promotion charges brought by transgender workers, Colclough wrote, but would not investigate other claims, including workplace harassment, that are tied to gender identity. Tuesday's lawsuit, filed in Maryland district court, refers to the agency's new policy as the 'Trans Exclusion Policy' and argues that it 'deprives transgender workers of the full set of charge-investigation and other enforcement protections that the EEOC provides to other workers.' 'Consider, for example, the transgender worker who files a charge of discrimination with the EEOC after a years-long barrage of on-the-job anti-trans insults and slurs, threats of sexual and lethal violence, and physical attacks,' the lawsuit says. 'Before the Trans Exclusion Policy, a charge alleging such facts would have led the EEOC to process and investigate the charge, which in turn might have yielded a finding by the EEOC that there was reasonable cause to believe the charging party had been subject to unlawful treatment.' 'Under the Trans Exclusion Policy, the EEOC would not investigate, issue a cause finding, attempt to settle, or take any other step to process the charge,' the lawsuit continues. 'All because the charging party is transgender.' An EEOC spokesperson directed The Hill's request for comment to the Justice Department, which did not immediately return an email seeking comment on the complaint. Gaylynn Burroughs, vice president for education and workplace justice at NWLC, said in a statement that the EEOC under Lucas's leadership is 'promoting discrimination.' 'Transgender workers deserve to be protected against harassment, and the EEOC is obligated to do so under law,' Burroughs said. 'But the Trump administration seems hellbent on bullying transgender people in every possible way and ensuring that they are pushed out of all forms of public life, including their workplaces, so we're taking the administration to court.' Lucas, who has served as an EEOC commissioner since 2020 and was named the agency's acting chair in January, had previously listed 'defending the biological and binary reality of sex and related rights' as one of her top priorities. During a Senate confirmation hearing in June, Lucas defended her decision to dismiss several of the EEOC's own cases filed on behalf of transgender workers, arguing the cases conflict with Trump's 'two sexes' order. 'Biology is not bigotry. Biological sex is real, and it matters,' Lucas said in January. 'Sex is binary (male and female) and immutable. It is not harassment to acknowledge these truths—or to use language like pronouns that flow from these realities, even repeatedly.' Lucas has also voiced opposition to the EEOC's anti-harassment guidelines, which state that gender identity discrimination is prohibited by Title VII and 'sex-based harassment includes harassment based on sexual orientation or gender identity, including how that identity is expressed.' Lucas, who voted against the policy when the EEOC brought it to a vote last year, cannot unilaterally remove or modify it.
