Close allies of President Trump are asking a judge to give the White House control over much of the federal court system.

In a little-noticed lawsuit filed last week, the America First Legal Foundation sued Chief Justice John Roberts and the head of the Administrative Office of U.S. Courts.

The case ostensibly proceeds as a FOIA lawsuit, with the Trump-aligned group seeking access to judiciary records. But, in doing so, it asks the courts to cede massive power to the White House: the bodies that make court policy and manage the judiciary’s day-to-day operations should be considered independent agencies of the executive branch, the suit argues, giving the President, under the conservative legal movement’s theories, the power to appoint and dismiss people in key roles.

The executive branch has tried to encroach on the power of the judiciary in other ways too, prompting a degree of consternation and alarm unusual for the normally-staid Administrative Office of U.S. Courts. As TPM has d

In an April 30 memo, Hegseth directed the Army secretary to “identify and propose contract modifications for right to repair provisions where intellectual property constraints limit the Army’s ability to conduct maintenance and access the appropriate maintenance tools, software, and technical data.”

Hegseth said the contracts should ease restrictions while “preserving the intellectual capital of American industry.”

The Trump administration has ordered the closure of 25 scientific centers that monitor US waters for flooding and drought, and manage supply levels to ensure communities around the country don’t run out of water.

The United States Geological Service (USGS) water science centers’ employees and equipment track levels and quality in ground and surface water with thousands of gauges. The data it produces plays a critical role across the economy to protect human life, protect property, maintain water supplies and help clean up chemical or oil spills.

The targeted centers are part of a larger network, and the Trump administration based its decision to make cuts based on leases near expiration, not scientific reasoning, said Kyla Bennett, director of science policy with the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility non-profit that’s tracking the issue.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order calling for an end to taxpayer funding for NPR and PBS, an escalation of his dangerous assault on public media that could shutter hundreds of local stations across the country.

The president's order, which he signed behind closed doors, echoes a section of Project 2025, a far-right agenda that called for stripping public funding from NPR, PBS, and other broadcasters on the grounds that they "do not even bother to run programming that would attract conservatives."

Trump's order instructs the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB)—a private nonprofit corporation created and funded by Congress—to "cease direct funding to NPR and PBS, consistent with my administration's policy to ensure that federal funding does not support biased and partisan news coverage."

Through internal memos and case data, interviews with more than a dozen current agency attorneys, and public records requests to school districts and other targets of investigations across the country, ProPublica has documented how the Trump administration has radically reshaped the OCR.

Only 57 investigations that found a civil rights violation and led to change at a school or college were completed in March, ProPublica has learned. Only 51 were resolved by finding violations in April. The Biden administration completed as many as 200 investigations a month.

With more than half of the Education Department’s civil rights offices closed and the division reduced to a fraction of its former staff, families’ pleas for updates and action have gone unheard. One OCR attorney, who asked not to be named for fear of retaliation, told ProPublica that her caseload went from 60 to 380 as she absorbed cases previously handled by employees who worked in offices that had been closed. Some remaining

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"They're defunding our schools, privatizing public services, attacking unions, and targeting immigrant families with fear and violence," the group added. "Working people build this nation and we know how to take care of each other. We won't back down — we will never stop fighting for our families and the rights and freedoms that propel opportunity and a better life for all Americans. Their time is up."

The inspiration behind the May 1 protests stems from the 1971 May Day demonstrations in Washington, D.C. The days-long protests resulted in more than 12,000 arrests as anti-war activists sought to shut down the federal government and disrupt the Vietnam War effort.

When the majority of Trump's cabinet reconvened Wednesday afternoon for an event to highlight business investment in the United States during the first 100 days of the president's term, neither Waltz nor Wong were present despite there being reserved seats clearly marked with their names.

The Independent understands that Trump is strongly considering bypassing traditional national security professional circles and installing his longtime friend and special envoy, Steve Witkoff, as Waltz's replacement.

It would mark a stunning ascent for the attorney and New York real estate developer turned presidential negotiator, who had no experience in diplomacy, defense or affairs of state before being tapped to be Trump's top Middle East peace envoy during the transition period between the 2024 election and when Trump was sworn in on January 20.

I swear I had Econ in college, but I don't remember anyone saying this so succinctly. It's from a weird place too, but this quote hits home. It's like population decline, but for money.

It was a truly baffling thing for an American president to say. And University of Michigan economist Justin Wolfers explained on MSNBC that things could get very bad as Trump’s scheme becomes reality. Wolfers ntoed that the idea of how much you can afford to buy with your income is called “real income.” And if real income falls, that’s called a recession. Wolfers went on to explain that if things decline as badly as Trump’s example, where someone who bought 30 dolls could only afford to buy two dolls, that’s called a depression.

Video from MSNBC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAZxLm6M_V0

House Bill 89, which prohibits government entities from conducting business with companies participating in, or planning to participate in, boycotts of Israel, became a Texas law in 2017.

The city’s resolution states more than $4.4 million in San Marcos residents' tax dollars went to Israel. Abbott refuted that statement, calling it “hard to believe.”

Abbott on Tuesday said there would be consequences if the resolution passes in a letter sent to San Marcos Mayor Jane Hughson.

The letter states that no governmental entity in Texas “may enter into a contract worth $100,000 or more unless it includes a ‘written verification’ that the contracting entity ‘does not boycott Israel’ and ‘will not boycott Israel during the term of the contract.’”

Several immigration detainees said they had been mistreated, neglected and denied due process – some unable to contact anyone for days on end during their abrupt transfers to prisons, then left in the dark about their ongoing deportation cases.

Some detainees described shortages of food, clothes, toilet paper and other necessities. Others alleged they were forced to live in dirty, overcrowded cells and unable to access basic medical care and regular outdoor time.

In addition to FCI Atlanta, Ice has sent immigration detainees to BoP facilities in Miami; Philadelphia; Berlin, New Hampshire; and Leavenworth, Kansas, according to BoP.

The BoP system, which houses federal criminal defendants, has long been plagued by reports of systemic abuse by officers, preventable deaths and crumbling infrastructure at facilities across the country. In recent years, former staffers at the Berlin and Philadelphia prisons were convicted of bribery and contraband. A Miami officer was charged with sexual

Republicans across the country had hoped to trigger a lawsuit challenging the law that would bring the issue back to the U.S. Supreme Court, similar to how a state law in Mississippi led to the court overturning federal abortion rights in 2022.

The Supreme Court established the right to an education for all students, regardless of immigration status in a 1982 ruling in Plyler v. Doe.

The Heritage Foundation, the conservative think tank that wrote the blueprint for the Trump administration's Project 2025 policies, called on states last year to pass bills challenging Plyler v. Doe.

Despite the multi-state effort, attempts this year to retry Plyler have all failed. Bills in Texas, Indiana and New Jersey stalled. Oklahoma's Republican state superintendent put a similar measure before the state legislature, but Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt vowed to block it.

Tennessee's version came the closest to becoming law. In April, the bill narrowly passed the Senate. Republican state Sen. Bo Wats

A US district judge has found Apple wilfully violated her injunction in a case brought by Epic Games - and that a top Apple executive "outright lied" under oath.

The injunction was supposed to block Apple from anti-competitive conduct and pricing, opening the App Store up to outside payment options.

Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said she was referring the matter to the US Attorney for Northern District of California to investigate whether a criminal contempt proceeding is appropriate.

Marie Ange Blaise had been detained since Feb. 12, when she was stopped by U.S. Customs and Border Protection at Henry E. Rohlsen International Airport in Saint Croix while trying to board a flight to Charlotte, North Carolina, according to ICE.

Croix. Trump Mass Deportations ICE Photo by: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer. By: Scripps News Group Posted 8:08 AM, Apr 30, 2025 and last updated 5 minutes ago

A 44-year-old woman from Haiti died in a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Florida last Friday, the agency said.

The cause of her death is still under investigation.

Marie Ange Blaise had been detained since Feb. 12, when she was stopped by U.S. Customs and Border Protection at Henry E. Rohlsen International Airport in Saint Croix while trying to board a flight to Charlotte, North Carolina, according to ICE.

She was then taken to ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Miami’s staging facility in San Juan, Puerto

Nitter link to video where they speak Portugese

The footage shows a female passenger dressed in business casual clothing at an open cockpit door before she’s wrestled to the ground by a crew member on the flight.

As the crew members work to gain control of the situation, a male passenger stands up from his seat and begins shouting in Portuguese.

The woman is seen loudly arguing with the crew, even reportedly yelling in Portuguese, “Aren’t you ashamed? I’ll kick you in the balls.” After they help her up, they begin escorting her back to her seat as she continues to protest.

As she was walked back to her seat, she reportedly began hurling insults at the cabin crew members, calling them a “son of a b—,” a f—t,” and adding that they were “going to get screwed.”

The male passenger continues standing and yelling furiously at her as she’s taken back to her seat, prompting another cabin cr

Note: The original link didn't work for some reason. For clarity, this is from The Verge and this is one of their quotes in the article:

On March 17th, the Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency broke into the nonprofit, congressionally funded US Institute for Peace, according to court documents filed by the USIP’s board of directors. By allegedly threatening to “cancel every federal contract” of a private security firm that had worked with USIP until a day earlier, they convinced it to let them into the building — where, told by institute staff they were trespassing, the fired security firm headed for the USIP gun safe. That’s when the USIP called the cops. The DC police arrived to escort DOGE into the building. USIP head of security Colin O’Brien, along with two of USIP’s lawyers, was detained.

https://www.theverge.com/tech/656704/elon-musk-doge-100-days-recap-list

The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on Wednesday in a Catholic virtual charter school’s bid to become the nation’s first religious charter school. The Oklahoma charter school board that approved the Catholic school’s application tells the justices that a state supreme court ruling invalidating its contract with the school violates the Constitution and harms lower-income families. But the state’s attorney general counters that a ruling in favor of the Catholic school could upend the charter-school system nationwide.

The Oklahoma law governing charter schools requires them to be non-religious “in their programs, admissions policies, and other operations.” The dispute now before the court began when the archdiocese of Oklahoma City and the diocese of Tulsa applied to the state’s charter school board to establish a virtual Catholic charter school, St. Isidore of Seville. The purpose of the school – which was named after the patron saint of the internet and projected to have an ini

A new device renders 3-D graphics that users can grab, drag and rotate. Such interactive visuals — which can be seen without a VR headset — could help create new hands-on educational tools or museum exhibits. They might also be used to make 3-D artwork or video games.

Bouzbib and colleagues at the Public University of Navarre in Pamplona, Spain, replaced the flat screen with a row of elastic strips like the ones used in the waistbands of stretchy pants. Users could then reach down into the display, fingers slipping through the oscillating strips, to touch virtual objects. Cameras tracking the user’s hand allowed them to pinch, swipe, spin and otherwise manipulate the graphics.

You put out headlines with trump in the title to get the clicks. This is what you've been signing up for and now you're being replaced assholes.

This week, the White House sank to a new low on that front, holding a first-of-its-kind “New Media Press Briefing.” While inviting journalists from smaller, less established outlets to the White House is ostensibly a good idea, that’s not what the administration did. Indeed, instead of inviting actual journalists to the event, the White House populated it with a slew of friendly influencers who were all too happy to kiss the president’s ass and ask White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt the softest of softball questions. It was bullshit questions and bullshit answers all the way down.

Leavitt kicked the briefing off by bragging about the administration’s various “accomplishments” over the past 100 years, er sorry, I meant days. “As I promised at my first briefing as press secretary back in January, the Trump White House will spea