Latest news with #Anti-DEI
USA Today
15-05-2025
- Business
- USA Today
'Root out DEI': Why red states are enlisting in Trump's war on 'woke'
'Root out DEI': Why red states are enlisting in Trump's war on 'woke' A wave of legislation targeting diversity, equity and inclusion is rolling through Republican-led statehouses as lawmakers borrow a page from the Trump administration's anti-DEI playbook. Show Caption Hide Caption Big U.S. companies taper or abandon diversity pledges Some of the biggest companies in the U.S. from Walmart to Meta Platforms have rolled back their diversity, equity and inclusion programs, known as DEI. When he took office in January, West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey issued an executive order eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion in state government. Last week, he signed a bill making that order the law in his state. 'I pledged to root out DEI,' Morrisey said at a ceremonial bill signing. 'Now I can report to you that we are following through with that promise and that's a wonderful reason to be here today. DEI is dead in the Mountain State.' With President Donald Trump leading the charge, diversity initiatives have emerged as a new front in the nation's culture wars. Now Republican-led states are joining the fight. While most anti-DEI bills target higher education, 25 states from Louisiana to South Carolina are considering 101 measures that would limit DEI in state and local governments and other publicly funded institutions, according to Bill Kramer, vice president and counsel of state and local government relations firm MultiState. In response, blue states are rolling out bills defending DEI. 'I definitely think state lawmakers have been emboldened by the actions on the federal level,' said Kramer, whose firm tracks legislation for hundreds of clients. So far this year, nine states have enacted anti-DEI laws and nine more have passed a bill through at least one chamber. Just this week Iowa sent legislation barring DEI activities and offices to Gov. Kim Reynolds for her signature. The aim of state legislation mirrors the president's agenda, to throttle DEI across the public sector and increase pressure on the private sector. In April, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a Republican, signed a bill banning DEI offices, officers, policies or practices in local government. 'Governor Sanders was proud to sign this legislation because government should be focused on serving the people and saving taxpayer dollars, not wasting time and money on woke nonsense,' her spokesman Sam Dubke told USA TODAY in a statement. Last week Indiana Gov. Mike Braun, a Republican, signed an 'unlawful discrimination' bill prohibiting public institutions from taking actions based on an individual's identity such as race or religion. Braun signed an executive order in January banning DEI initiatives in state government. Anti-DEI bills fueled by backlash For years diversity initiatives have come under fire in red states, either as 'DEI' or 'critical race theory.' In 2022, those terms appeared for the first time in bills introduced in 12 states, according to a USA TODAY analysis of data compiled by bill-tracking firm Plural. Dozens of bills targeting universities and state governments drafted by anti-DEI think tanks and foundations are part of a broader backlash against the DEI initiatives embraced after George Floyd's 2020 murder to redress historic patterns of discrimination and exclusion in the workplace. Critics like Russell Vought, and Stephen Miller – both now Trump officials – assailed diversity targets and other DEI strategies as an illegal form of discrimination that prioritizes race and gender over individual merit. Trump seized on the wedge issue during his 2024 presidential campaign, vowing to defeat "anti-white" racism. Just hours after taking the oath of office on Jan. 20, Trump issued executive orders to dismantle DEI programs. Wade Miller, senior adviser for the Center Renewing America, applauded states for lining up to help Trump. 'We welcome all bills aimed at dismantling DEI,' said Miller, speaking for the conservative think tank Vought founded in January 2021. The momentum of these bills in red states is unlikely to slow, according to Republican pollster Whit Ayres. 'The top four reasons people voted for Trump were to bring down inflation, juice the economy, stop illegal immigration and to get away from woke culture,' said Ayres, president of North Star Opinion Research. Democrats defend merits of DEI Democrats warn the new wave of anti-DEI legislation could have sweeping implications for local and state government workers and the communities they serve. 'The best way to make sure that the government is working for all versus just the few is to have people working in government who understand the experiences of the people they are serving and who have the skills to be excellent in their jobs,' said Eliza Leighton, who advocates for DEI as executive director of Deliver the American Dream, part of the American Pride Rises network. 'DEI work at the state level is ensuring those things.' In Indiana, Senate Democrats condemned a new anti-DEI law as 'a step backward' for diverse communities within the state who face discrimination. "When we introduce legislation that claims that we want everyone to be treated equally, I love that. I have yet to meet a person on this Earth who said we should not treat people equally," said state Sen. Fady Qaddoura, a Democrat. "But what this legislation ignores is that people have different starting points in their lives." Last week, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed into law the 'Dismantling DEI Departments Act' banning DEI offices and departments in the Tennessee government. Also on the governor's desk is the 'Dismantle DEI Act.' If signed, it would bar state and local governments, public colleges, and school systems from considering race, sex or other demographic characteristics in employment decisions. On the House floor last month, Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson, a Republican and the senate sponsor of both bills, said Tennessee is aligning itself with the priorities of the Trump administration. House sponsor Rep. Aron Maberry said diversity will 'happen naturally through fair hiring practices.' DEI isn't about giving unfair advantages because of gender or skin color, but making sure qualified candidates are not denied equal access to opportunities because of their identity, Tennessee Senate Minority Leader Raumesh Akbari responded. 'It is unfortunate that diversity, equity and inclusion has become this ugly political tool to divide people,' Akbari said on the House floor in April. 'What diversity, equity and inclusion principles do is that they make sure that folks who are different but who are equally qualified get a fair shake.' Tennessee 'deserves a government that reflects the people it serves, not one that turns back the clock on progress,' she told USA TODAY. In a state where 17% of the population is Black, Akbari and Sen. London Lamar, another Democrat who spoke out against the 'Dismantle DEI Act' on the House floor, are two of three Black Americans in the Tennessee Senate. 'As a Black woman, a state senator, and lifelong advocate for equity, I'm deeply disturbed by the Tennessee Legislature's continued attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion,' Lamar told USA TODAY in a statement. 'These efforts aren't about fairness or accountability, they're about silencing progress and pushing marginalized voices out of spaces we've fought hard to enter.' Voicing his opposition to the 'Dismantling DEI Departments Act' in March, Rep. Larry Miller, a Democrat, retired fire fighter and the longest-serving member of the Tennessee House of Representatives, spoke in personal terms. "I am the product of DEI. Chances are I would not be sitting here today if I were not. And what your bill is saying (is): 'We want to dismantle and do away with that history. My history, my personal history," Miller said. "DEI helped build this country." Blue states mount pro-DEI resistance In blue states, pro-DEI legislation is also on the rise. Of the 426 DEI bills tracked by American Pride Rises so far in 2025, 221 favor DEI and 205 oppose it. In April, Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, vetoed a bill from the Republican-controlled legislature that would have banned DEI hiring practices in state and local governments. 'The state does not mandate any composition of its workforce and already has a merit-focused hiring system in an effort to recruit the best possible talent into the ranks of public service,' she wrote in a letter to the state Senate vetoing the bill. This week Hobbs vetoed a second bill that would have wiped out DEI offices and activities in state agencies, colleges and universities and local governments. Is a piece of legislation pro-DEI or anti-DEI? Sometimes it depends on who you ask. A bill in Michigan House of Representatives that would require state agencies to hire employees based on objective factors such as relevant work experience and education was sponsored by pro-DEI Democrats but appeared to have been originally crafted and introduced by Republicans in the previous term. While the term "DEI" does not appear in the bill that promotes merit-based hiring, House Republicans said the legislation would eliminate it. 'Merit-based hiring and promotion is simple: You do a good job, and you'll be rewarded. Why any other metric matters is a mystery," GOP Rep. Joseph Pavlov said. "There is no place for DEI in our government.' According to Benjamin Ries, Pavlov's director of legislation, the Legislative Services Bureau made a clerical error and gave this bill to Rep. Erin Byrnes, a Democrat, who then sponsored it, receiving "overwhelming Democrat co-sponsorship." "The representative is hopeful that his Democrat colleagues have seen that DEI doesn't help the people it aims at helping," Ries said. Byrnes told USA TODAY the bill gave her the opportunity to flip the script. Decreasing the influence of personal connections in the hiring process creates a more equal playing field for all workers, she said. Her bill sailed through the Michigan House of Representatives with near unanimous support. Only one representative opposed it. 'House Republicans in Michigan voted yes on a DEI bill. I love that for them,' Byrnes told USA TODAY. 'House Democrats know that merit-based hiring and diversity, equity and inclusion practices are not mutually exclusive. That is a false narrative that Republicans have been pushing for years now. Just because Republicans say something doesn't make it fact." Contributing: Jayme Fraser
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
DEI is winning with Costco, Apple and Levi's shareholders
Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) has been losing with corporate America, with one big exception: the people who actually own the companies. This year, investors at some of America's biggest companies — Costco, Apple, Levi's, John Deere, Goldman Sachs and others — have overwhelmingly voted against proposals targeting DEI programs. The proposals include requiring companies to scrap their DEI policies entirely or remove diversity goals from executive pay packages and audit the legal risks of pursuing DEI. Two conservative think tanks, the National Center for Public Policy Research and the National Legal and Policy Center, have brought most of the proposals. The near-unanimous shareholder votes show two things — large and small investors alike do not want companies' boards of directors and management to bend to activist shareholders, and investors believe maintaining DEI programs is good for business. The rejections of anti-DEI proposals 'reveal that the investor community doesn't think that having a tough stance on DEI makes financial sense,' said Matteo Gatti, a professor of law at Rutgers University who studies corporate governance. 'Investors are saying they don't want ideological shareholders to drive business.' DEI in the workplace is generally a mix of employee training, resource networks and recruiting practices. The goals are to advance representation of different races, genders and classes, people with disabilities, veterans and other groups. But opponents like Elon Musk, the Tesla and X CEO and close advisor to President Donald Trump, say DEI represents 'reverse racism.' From Target to Meta, dozens of companies have modified or rolled back their diversity programs in recent months under pressure from the Trump administration, right-wing activists such Robby Starbuck and conservative legal groups. But shareholder votes are a rare area where DEI opponents are losing. It's no surprise. Large institutional investors, such as BlackRock, Vanguard and State Street, are the top shareholders of most companies. They typically oppose outside shareholder resolutions, siding with company management in around 90% of the votes. 'Just because DEI is falling out of the political winds doesn't mean the votes have changed,' said Jon Solorzano, a partner at Vinson & Elkins who advises companies on environmental, social and governance issues. Winning a shareholder vote is not the sole purpose of conservative groups bringing the proposals. Anti-DEI resolutions are an inexpensive way for activist shareholders to draw media attention, gin up financial and political support for the groups bringing the resolutions and keep up pressure on companies over their DEI policies, Gatti said. 'Part of it is to get people to pay attention,' he said. Win or lose, the proposals may add momentum for banning shareholder votes on climate, social and political issues in companies' proxy statements. A proxy statement precedes a meeting where investors vote on nominees for board of directors, executive compensation packages and other business issues. The Business Roundtable, an influential business lobbying group, called for reforms to the proxy process last week, claiming activist investors have increasingly used it to 'promote public policy agendas unrelated to company performance.' Conservative groups say anti-DEI shareholder proposals give them leverage to negotiate with companies and seek changes. For example, the National Legal and Policy Center withdrew an anti-DEI shareholder proposal at PepsiCo after PepsiCo said it would end its goals for minority representation in managerial roles. 'We think that the work we've done with shareholder proposals elevates the conversation and puts companies on the defensive,' said Luke Perlot, the associate director of the National Legal and Policy Center's Corporate Integrity Project. Shareholder proposals are 'one of the most effective tools' of the group's corporate activism work. Opponents of DEI are taking a page from DEI advocates. Shareholder proposals urging companies to improve DEI policies surged in 2020 and 2021, but have dwindled in recent years. Investors and companies have become fatigued with following through on their DEI commitments, and pressure has increased on companies to steer clear of social issues. Meanwhile, anti-DEI shareholder proposals have grown, part of a broader campaign on the right to crack down on DEI. Shareholder proposals opposing DEI accounted for only 7% of all DEI-related proposals in 2022. In 2024, that accelerated to 23%. As of April 1, approximately 40% of proposals around DEI oppose DEI efforts, according to a recent report by The Conference Board. But these anti-DEI proposals have received little investor support, averaging less than 2% of shareholder support. 'Institutional investors and proxy advisors consistently oppose these resolutions, viewing them as misaligned with corporate governance best practices and investor priorities,' the Conference Board said in the report. 'The proposals also originate from a small group of activists rather than mainstream investor coalitions, further limiting their appeal.' In Costco's case, the proposal galvanized public support of Costco for sticking up for DEI. More than 98% of Costco shareholders voted down a proposal brought by the National Center for Public Policy Research that would have required the company to evaluate and issue a report on the financial risks of maintaining its diversity and inclusion goals. Costco's management opposed the proposal. The company said its DEI efforts help it attract and retain a wide range of employees and improve merchandise and services in stores. 'Among other things, a diverse group of employees helps bring originality and creativity to our merchandise offerings, promoting the 'treasure hunt' that our customers value,' Costco said in its proxy statement to investors. Most institutional shareholders like BlackRock and Vanguard still believe having a diverse workforce and customer base are good for business, said Atinuke Adediran, an associate professor of law at Fordham University who studies corporate governance and racial diversity. 'The rhetoric has been DEI is dead, but you have large, multinational shareholders upholding what companies are doing on DEI,' she said.
CNN
02-05-2025
- Business
- CNN
DEI is winning with Costco, Apple and Levi's shareholders
Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) has been losing with corporate America, with one big exception: the people who actually own the companies. This year, investors at some of America's biggest companies — Costco, Apple, Levi's, John Deere, Goldman Sachs and others — have overwhelmingly voted against proposals targeting DEI programs. The proposals include requiring companies to scrap their DEI policies entirely or remove diversity goals from executive pay packages and audit the legal risks of pursuing DEI. Two conservative think tanks, the National Center for Public Policy Research and the National Legal and Policy Center. The near-unanimous shareholder votes show two things — large and small investors alike do not want companies' boards of directors and management to bend to activist shareholders, and investors believe maintaining DEI programs is good for business. The rejections of anti-DEI proposals 'reveal that the investor community doesn't think that having a tough stance on DEI makes financial sense,' said Matteo Gatti, a professor of law at Rutgers University who studies corporate governance. 'Investors are saying they don't want ideological shareholders to drive business.' DEI in the workplace is generally a mix of employee training, resource networks and recruiting practices. The goals are to advance representation of different races, genders and classes, people with disabilities, veterans and other groups. But opponents like Elon Musk, the Tesla and X CEO and close advisor to President Donald Trump, say DEI represents 'reverse racism.' From Target to Meta, dozens of companies have modified or rolled back their diversity programs in recent months under pressure from the Trump administration, right-wing activists such Robby Starbuck and conservative legal groups. But shareholder votes are a rare area where DEI opponents are losing. It's no surprise. Large institutional investors, such as BlackRock, Vanguard and State Street, are the top shareholders of most companies. They typically oppose outside shareholder resolutions, siding with company management in around 90% of the votes. 'Just because DEI is falling out of the political winds doesn't mean the votes have changed,' said Jon Solorzano, a partner at Vinson & Elkins who advises companies on environmental, social and governance issues. Winning a shareholder vote is not the sole purpose of conservative groups bringing the proposals. Anti-DEI resolutions are an inexpensive way for activist shareholders to draw media attention, gin up financial and political support for the groups bringing the resolutions and keep up pressure on companies over their DEI policies, Gatti said. 'Part of it is to get people to pay attention,' he said. Win or lose, the proposals may add momentum for banning shareholder votes on climate, social and political issues in companies' proxy statements. A proxy statement precedes a meeting where investors vote on nominees for board of directors, executive compensation packages and other business issues. The Business Roundtable, an influential business lobbying group, called for reforms to the proxy process last week, claiming activist investors have increasingly used it to 'promote public policy agendas unrelated to company performance.' Conservative groups say anti-DEI shareholder proposals give them leverage to negotiate with companies and seek changes. For example, the National Legal and Policy Center withdrew an anti-DEI shareholder proposal at PepsiCo after PepsiCo said it would end its goals for minority representation in managerial roles. 'We think that the work we've done with shareholder proposals elevates the conversation and puts companies on the defensive,' said Luke Perlot, the associate director of the National Legal and Policy Center's Corporate Integrity Project. Shareholder proposals are 'one of the most effective tools' of the group's corporate activism work. Opponents of DEI are taking a page from DEI advocates. Shareholder proposals urging companies to improve DEI policies surged in 2020 and 2021, but have dwindled in recent years. Investors and companies have become fatigued with following through on their DEI commitments, and pressure has increased on companies to steer clear of social issues. Meanwhile, anti-DEI shareholder proposals have grown, part of a broader campaign on the right to crack down on DEI. Shareholder proposals opposing DEI accounted for only 7% of all DEI-related proposals in 2022. In 2024, that accelerated to 23%. As of April 1, approximately 40% of proposals around DEI oppose DEI efforts, according to a recent report by The Conference Board. But these anti-DEI proposals have received little investor support, averaging less than 2% of shareholder support. 'Institutional investors and proxy advisors consistently oppose these resolutions, viewing them as misaligned with corporate governance best practices and investor priorities,' the Conference Board said in the report. 'The proposals also originate from a small group of activists rather than mainstream investor coalitions, further limiting their appeal.' In Costco's case, the proposal galvanized public support of Costco for sticking up for DEI. More than 98% of Costco shareholders voted down a proposal brought by the National Center for Public Policy Research that would have required the company to evaluate and issue a report on the financial risks of maintaining its diversity and inclusion goals. Costco's management opposed the proposal. The company said its DEI efforts help it attract and retain a wide range of employees and improve merchandise and services in stores. 'Among other things, a diverse group of employees helps bring originality and creativity to our merchandise offerings, promoting the 'treasure hunt' that our customers value,' Costco said in its proxy statement to investors. Most institutional shareholders like BlackRock and Vanguard still believe having a diverse workforce and customer base are good for business, said Atinuke Adediran, an associate professor of law at Fordham University who studies corporate governance and racial diversity. 'The rhetoric has been DEI is dead, but you have large, multinational shareholders upholding what companies are doing on DEI,' she said.
Chicago Tribune
28-04-2025
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
Consent added into sex education bill, anti-DEI bill pass in final days of Indiana legislative session
In the final two days of the session, the Indiana legislature approved last-minute changes to a sex education bill and passed an anti-DEI bill. Senate Bill 442, which addresses instruction on human sexuality, and Senate Bill 289, which addresses unlawful discrimination, were both authored by Sen. Gary Byrne, R-Byrneville. After the session ended Thursday, Byrne issued a brief statement that he championed legislation that aimed to 'promote educational curriculum transparency' and 'prevent unlawful discrimination.' 'I look forward to spending time this interim hearing from local constituents on how to continue to make Indiana a better place to raise a family,' Byrne said. Sex education bill In Senate Bill 442, a school board would have to approve any materials used to teach human sexuality for grades 4-12, and for the material titles to be posted online. The bill also requires elementary school students, if they participate in the lesson, to watch a three-minute ultrasound video of fetal development. In the final week of the session, Byrne said he would remove language in the bill that required teaching 'the importance of consent on sexual activity.' But, after receiving pushback, Byrne added the language about consent back into the bill. 'The primary goal of Senate Bill 442 is to promote transparency in sexual education curriculum by requiring that curriculum to be approved by school boards and posted publicly online. The new conference committee report, which I approved yesterday morning, will also retain language added by the House of Representatives, which would require schools to teach about the importance of consent to sexual activity in an age-appropriate way and teach about fetal development during pregnancy,' Byrne said in a statement last Tuesday. Sen. J.D. Ford, D-Indianapolis, said he was glad that consent was added back into the bill. But, Ford opposed the bill because he didn't understand the specificity of watching a three-minute ultrasound video. Sen. Shelli Yoder, D-Bloomington, said consent should be taught beyond just 'sexual activity between two individuals.' 'I don't know why there has to be some qualifier,' Yoder said. 'I think what's important here is we're teaching young people to be able to have agency and sense of self and be able to make those determinations no matter what.' The bill passed the Senate last Wednesday 35-12, with Sen. Vaneta Becker, R-Evansville, and Sen. Greg Walker, R-Columbus, and all Democrats voting against the bill. It passed the House 72-20 the same day. Anti-DEI bill Senate Bill 289 prohibits 'discrimination' in state education, public employment and a licensing setting that 'is based on a personal characteristic of the person.' The final version of the bill exempts 'employment actions concerning participation in a public contract by a minority business enterprise, women's business enterprise, or veteran business enterprise, if the employment action is authorized by law.' Under the bill, schools can also make decisions around grants, scholarships or fee remissions based on 'personal characteristics' as long as those awards do not include any 'state funds or resources.' State offices and universities can't require employees to complete training or licensing 'asserting that, or endorsing the theory that,' a person with a certain personal characteristic is inherently superior or inferior to a person with a different personal characteristic; should be blamed for actions committed in the past; or has a moral character that is determined by a personal characteristic of the person. 'You can't fix discrimination with discrimination,' Byrne said. 'This bill is good for Indiana, and everybody should be judged by how hard you work.' In the bill, Earline S. Rogers, who was a former Lake County legislator, strikes the word 'minority' from the scholarship requirement and lists that those eligible for the scholarship 'reside in an underserved county in Indiana.' The bill defines five underserved counties: Lake, Allen, Marion, St. Joseph and Vanderburgh. Sen. Lonnie Randolph, D-East Chicago, raised concerns about limiting the scholarship to five counties while aiming to 'fight discrimination.' 'It just doesn't make sense that the supermajority would pass a bill that discriminates against most of the counties in the state,' Randolph said. Yoder said Senate Bill 289 is a 'culture war bill,' The legislature should defend scholarships for minority students 'full stop,' she said, and said the bill discriminates against who can receive scholarships. 'I strongly continue to be opposed with this direct attack on truth and progress all in the name of unlawful discrimination. You can't put lipstick on a pig, it's still a pig,' Yoder said. Sen. La Keisha Jackson, D-Indianapolis, said diversity, equity and inclusion benefits white women, people with disabilities and veterans before it benefits Black and brown people. As a Black woman, Jackson said tearfully it was difficult to have to complicate an anti-DEI bill as she listed the history of Black people, from the three-fifths compromise to Martin Luther King Jr. leading the civil rights movement. 'By eliminating DEI, we are limiting perspectives and ignoring the richness of our diverse state. Life is not black and white – there is nuance, and we must embrace the complexity that makes Indiana what it is,' Jackson said. Byrne said everyone in the Senate 'is 100% whole,' and he said he taught his three sons as they were growing up Martin Luther King Jr.'s message of judging a person based on the content of their character. 'I love every person for their personal characteristics,' Byrne said. 'I do love every person, even on the other side. I don't care what color skin you are, it has nothing to do with it.' The bill passed the Senate last Thursday, the final day of session, 34-16. It passed the House 64-26 the same day.
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
New Filing Blows Up Key Parts Of Trump's Alien Enemies Act Defense
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM's Morning Memo. Sign up for the email version. A newly unsealed court filing has revealed previously unknown details about the Trump administration's operation to remove Venezuelan nationals under the Alien Enemies Act and threatens to undermine key elements of its legal defense. The filing is a declaration by ICE official Carlos D. Cisneros in an Alien Enemies Act case in federal court in the Southern District of Texas. The implications of what Cisneros has revealed could reverberate in AEA cases around the country, including at the Supreme Court. Timing: The headline news was Cisneros' revelation that detainees are being given 'no less than 12 hours' to decide whether to contest their imminent removal under the AEA and another 24 hours to file a habeas case. This is supposed to satisfy the notice requirement the Supreme Court imposed earlier this month in AEA cases, but it is unlikely any court is going to find the 12/24-hour combo sufficient. By way of comparison, U.S. District Judge Charlotte Sweeney of Colorado earlier this week imposed a 21-day notice requirement and other procedural safeguards on the government in an Alien Enemies Act ruling. Inconsistency: Legal reporter Chris Geidner has an excellent analysis of how the Cisneros declaration reveals the Trump administration is telling the Supreme Court one thing and apparently doing another. In a different AEA case out of North Texas, Solicitor General John Sauer has told the Supreme Court the administration will not remove AEA detainees who file habeas claims. But the Cisneros declaration reveals that there may be a couple of different exceptions in practice to that general rule, which would undermine if not flat out contradict what the Trump DOJ represented in court. Imminence: In that North Texas case, where the Supreme Court acted in the middle of the night to block another round of removals, Justice Samuel Alito wondered in his dissent (joined by Justice Clarence Thomas) what all the rush was about. 'The papers before us, while alleging that the applicants were in imminent danger of removal, provide little concrete support for that allegation,' Alito wrote. But the new revelation in the Cisneros declaration about the 12/24-hour combo establishes exactly what the plaintiffs had claimed: Removals were imminent. (Credit to Georgetown Law professor Steve Vladeck for this catch.) Reuters: The Trump administration moved a Venezuelan man to Texas for possible deportation about a half an hour after U.S. District Judge Stephanie Haines had issued an order blocking his removal from the Western District of Pennsylvania. Elections Executive Order: U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly temporarily blocked a provision of President Trump's executive order demanding that proof of citizenship be added to some federal voting forms. Anti-DEI: Federal judges in DC, Maryland, and New Hampshire separately blocked elements of the Education Department's ban on DEI in K-12 schools. Sanctuary cities: U.S. District Judge William H. Orrick of San Francisco temporarily blocked the Trump administration from withholding funds from sanctuary cities, a replay of a case Orrick had early in Trump I. President Trump ordered the Justice Department to investigate the leading Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue: A slow-motion train wreck – and a nightmare for any lawyer – has played out since Wednesday in the NYC congestion pricing case. The sequence was as follow: Wednesday night, DOJ mistakenly uploaded to the public docket an internal letter that contained its legal advice to the Department of Transportation about why its case was a sure loser. Thursday morning, DOJ asked the judge in the case to remove or permanently seal the 'inadvertently uploaded' letter. A Department of Transportation spokesperson blasted the DOJ attorneys and questioned whether it was really a mistake: 'Are SDNY lawyers on this case incompetent or was this their attempt to RESIST? At the very least, it's legal malpractice. It's sad to see a premier legal organization continue to fall into such disgrace.' The Department of Transportation said it was replacing the lawyers involved, who worked in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, with lawyers from the Main Justice's Civil Division in DC. The federal judge in the case, Lewis Liman, temporarily sealed the mistakenly filed letter but ordered briefing on (i) whether there's a sufficient basis to seal the letter permanently since it was already made public and widely republished by news outlets; and (ii) whether the inadvertent publication of the letter waived attorney-client privilege. The cringe outweighs any schadenfreude. A decade ago, Michelle Fiore of Nevada was a fixture in TPM coverage of far-right politics. This week President Trump pardoned her before her sentencing on a federal fraud conviction. Her crime? Using money collected to honor a slain police officer on personal expenses, including cosmetic surgery. Former Rep. George Santos (R-NY) is scheduled to be sentenced today in federal court in New York, where he pleaded guilty in his fraud case. Gov't-wide: President Trump signed an executive order Thursday making it easier to fire probationary government employees. VA: The Veterans Affairs Department is forcing staff in workforce reduction discussions to sign non-disclosure agreements. SSA: Acting Social Security Commissioner Leland Dudek is moving to convert the status of many of his agencies employees to the new Schedule F. On the same day that President Trump plaintively posted to social media 'Vladimir, STOP!' CNN reported that he is 'frustrated' and has privately told advisers that mediating a deal to end the war in Ukraine 'has been more difficult than he anticipated.' WSJ: Polygraph Threats, Leaks and Infighting: The Chaos Inside Hegseth's Pentagon AP: Hegseth had an unsecured internet line set up in his office to connect to Signal NYT: 'Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's personal phone number, the one used in a recent Signal chat, was easily accessible on the internet and public apps as recently as March, potentially exposing national security secrets to foreign adversaries.' Jay Willis: Let's Take a Look at the Children's Books Sam Alito Is So Afraid Of
