Trump administration must fund SNAP payments during the shutdown, judges rule

Two federal judges ruled nearly simultaneously on Friday that President Donald Trump’s administration must continue to fund SNAP, the nation’s biggest food aid program, using contingency funds during the government shutdown.

It wasn’t immediately clear how quickly the debit cards that beneficiaries use to buy groceries could be reloaded after the ruling. That process often takes one to two weeks.

President Donald Trump on Friday called for the firing of the head of the agency that produces the monthly jobs figures after a report showed hiring slowed in July and was much weaker in May and June than previously reported.

Trump in a post on his social media platform alleged that the figures were manipulated for political reasons and said that Erika McEntarfer, the director of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden, should be fired.

Trump focused much of his ire on the revisions the agency made to previous hiring data. Job gains in May were revised down to just 19,000 from 125,000, and in June they were cut to 14,000 from 147,000. In July, only 73,000 positions were added. The unemployment rate ticked up to a still-low 4.2% from 4.1%.

While the jobs numbers are often the subject of political spin, economists and Wall Street investors — with millions of dollars at stake — have always accepted U.S. government economic data as free from political manipulation.

Before the crash Brian Hanson, who was on a walk in the East Village, saw the suspect following a female jogger who looked visibly uncomfortable. Hanson said he tried to distract the man, which led to the man chasing him. When the man later got into a vehicle, Hanson also saw him driving toward pedestrians by city hall on Robert D. Ray Drive.

Officers tried to initiate a traffic stop near East Grand Avenue and Robert D. Ray Drive around 6:30 a.m. Tuesday, July 16, according to a news release issued shortly after the crash. The release said the driver "apparently intentionally" rammed a squad care before fleeing at high speeds.

Luigi Mangione pleaded not guilty Friday to a federal murder charge in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson as prosecutors formally declared their intent to seek the death penalty against him.

Late Thursday night, federal prosecutors filed a required notice of their intent to seek the death penalty.

That came weeks after U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that she would be directing federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for what she called “an act of political violence” and a “premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America.”

Mangione’s federal indictment includes a charge of murder through use of a firearm, which carries the possibility of the death penalty. The indictment, which mirrors a criminal complaint brought after Mangione’s arrest also charges him with stalking and a gun offense.

The Iowa Supreme Court has removed from the bench a magistrate who questioned the veracity of an alleged sexual assault victim because he was a teenage male and asked whether a defendant in a separate case was a “w------.”

Magistrate David J. Hanson, who is based in Fayette County and has practiced law for more than 36 years, is “simply and unalterably unsuited to be a judge,” and is “unable to preside over any proceeding involving a sexual assault,” the court ruled on Friday.

Its decision to remove Hanson from the bench takes effect in 10 days, assuming Hanson has not resigned before then.

A long sliver of federal land along the U.S.-Mexico border that President Donald Trump is turning over to the Department of Defense would be controlled by the Army as part of a base, which could allow troops to detain any trespassers, including migrants, U.S. officials told The Associated Press.

The transfer of that border zone to military control — and making it part of an Army installation — is an attempt by the Trump administration to get around a federal law that prohibits U.S. troops from being used in domestic law enforcement on American soil.

The officials said the issue is still under review in the Pentagon, but even as any legal review goes on, the administration’s intent is to have troops detain migrants at the border.

Troops are prohibited from conducting civilian law enforcement on U.S. soil under the Posse Comitatus Act. An exception known as the military purpose doctrine allows it in some cases — but would not apply here and would likely be challenged in the courts, said Elizabeth Gotein, an expert on presidential emergency powers at the Brennan Center for Justice.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds announced on social media Friday she will not seek reelection to another term — an unexpected move that resets the state's political landscape ahead of a 2026 midterm election year.

"Now, it’s time for me to be there for them," she said. "To help them through the next stage of life. To watch every track meet and basketball game ... I’ll be working hard for you every single day until my term ends." Reynolds' husband, Kevin, was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2023, although she told reporters in 2024 he was doing well after receiving treatment.

Democrats in the state have been hoping to strongly contest the governor's race in 2026, particularly in a midterm year when national political dynamics have historically favored the party that doesn't control the White House.

Iowa's lone Democrat elected to statewide office, Auditor Rob Sand, is expected to run make a run for governor though he has made no formal announcement.

The Supreme Court on Thursday said President Donald Trump’s administration must facilitate the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador, rejecting the administration’s emergency appeal

The administration claims Abrego Garcia is a member of the MS-13 gang, though his attorneys said there is no evidence he was in the gang, and he has never been charged with or convicted of a crime.

The administration has conceded that it made a mistake in sending him to El Salvador, where he is being held in a notorious prison, but also argued that it no longer could do anything about it.

The Iowa Judicial Qualifications Commission, which hears complaints about judges’ conduct, has recommended that the Iowa Supreme Court suspend Hanson, a part-time magistrate who is based in Fayette County and practiced law for more than 36 years. The recommendation is tied to comments made by Hanson in two separate criminal matters.

On Aug. 5, 2022, he refused to sign an arrest warrant for a 17-year-old girl in a sexual abuse case in which the alleged victim was a male. According to court records, Hanson reviewed the matter and, with regard to the alleged victim, stated in writing, “The boy will automatically think, ‘Alright! I’m gonna GET some!’”

In July 2023, Hanson was presiding over a case in which an individual was charged with driving without a license or insurance. A law-student intern who was prosecuting the case later complained that during the proceedings Hanson asked, “Is this guy a wetback? An illegal?” According to the commission, Hanson also asked whether the prosecutor was sure the defendant, who wasn’t present at the time, hadn’t stolen someone’s identification. The intern later complained that Hanson’s conduct made her “extremely uncomfortable” and raised concerns that Hanson, due to his use of a “racist slur,” was biased.

Hanson then likened the decision he faced in that case with what he called the “travesty” of the testimony that was given during the U.S. Supreme Court nomination hearings for Justice Kavanaugh in 2018

The commission recommended the Iowa Supreme Court impose a 90-day suspension without pay and require Hanson to submit to educational training on anger management and bias.

The court has yet to rule on the commission’s recommendation of a 90-day suspension.

President Donald Trump voiced anger Sunday at Russian President Vladimir Putin for comments he made about Ukraine and its president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

“If a deal isn’t made, and if I think it was Russia’s fault, I’m going to put secondary sanctions on Russia,” Trump told NBC’s Kristen Welker, adding that there would be “a 25 to 50-point tariff on all oil.”

Russia has effectively rejected a U.S. proposal for an immediate and full 30-day halt in the fighting, and the feasibility of a partial ceasefire on the Black Sea was thrown into doubt after Kremlin negotiators imposed far-reaching conditions.

Well, I've lost the plot. When we say he wants no allies left we really mean none huh.

Iran’s president said Sunday that the Islamic Republic rejected direct negotiations with the United States over its rapidly advancing nuclear program, offering Tehran’s first response to a letter President Donald Trump sent to the country’s supreme leader.

Angry over the crush of court rulings against the Trump administration, Republicans in Congress are trying to slap back at the federal judiciary with proposals to limit the reach of its rulings, cut funding and even impeach judges, tightening the GOP’s grip on government.

n perhaps the most high-profile case, Judge James E. Boasberg ordered planeloads of deported immigrants to be turned around, raising the ire of Trump, who called for his impeachment, and billionaire Musk, who is funneling campaign cash to House Rep

"We do have authority over the federal courts, as you know,” the Republican speaker said. “We can eliminate an entire district court. We have power of funding over the co

Not yet 100 days into the new administration, the unusual attack on the federal judiciary is the start of what is expected to be a protracted battle between the co-equal branches of government, unmatched in modern memory

President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed a sweeping executive action to overhaul U.S. elections, including requiring documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections and demanding that all ballots be received by Election Day. The order calls on states to work with federal agencies to share voter lists and prosecute election crimes. It threatens to pull federal funding from states where election officials don’t comply.

Trump often claims elections are being rigged, even before the results are known, and has waged battles against certain voting methods since he lost the 2020 election to Democrat Joe Biden and falsely blamed it on widespread fraud.

Senator Chuck Grassley held a town hall in Hampton, Iowa, where he faced tough questions from constituents about the Trump administration and government oversight.

Attendees expressed frustration with the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk, and its impact on federal agencies.

"The courts are doing their job, and they're doing it really well," the unidentified speaker said. "They're reining in Trump and others, but we need to also have the Senate and the House also providing oversight, and it's your job. We are depending on you and the others to save Democracy."

Grassley, who has called himself a "watchdog" in Congress, said he has a staff with 33 investigations going, including one on curbing "government waste.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/27419929

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/27419929

A federal judge blocked President Donald Trump’s executive order banning transgender people from military service

U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes in Washington, D.C., ruled that Trump’s order to exclude transgender troops from military service likely violates their constitutional rights.

Plaintiffs’ attorneys contend Trump’s order violates transgender people’s rights to equal protection under the Fifth Amendment. Government lawyers argue that military officials have broad discretion to decide how to assign and deploy servicemembers without judicial interference.

A federal judge on Saturday barred the administration of President Donald Trump from deportations under an 18th century law that Trump invoked just hours earlier

James E. Boasberg, chief judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, said he needed to issue his order immediately because the government was already flying migrants it claimed were newly deportable under Trump’s proclamation to El Salvador and Honduras to be incarcerated there

“I do not believe I can wait any longer and am required to act,” Boasberg said during a Saturday evening hearing in a lawsuit brought by the ACLU and Democracy Forward. “A brief delay in their removal does not cause the government any harm,” he added, noting they remain in government custody but ordering that any planes in the air be turned around

Federal agencies will begin to vacate hundreds of offices across the country this summer under a frenetic and error-riddled push by Elon Musk’s budget-cutting advisers to terminate leases that they say waste money.

Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency maintains a list of canceled real estate leases on its website, but internal documents obtained by The Associated Press contain a crucial detail: when those cancellations are expected to take effec

The lease terminations do not mean all the locations will close. In some cases, agencies may negotiate new leases to stay in place, downsize their exi

U.S. District Judge William Alsup found the firings didn’t follow federal law.

He required that immediate offers of reinstatement be sent by agencies including the departments of Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Defense, Energy, the Interior and Treasury.