Trump and the law

The New Republic -   The future of protesting in the United States may have been decided in a cramped Depression-era courtroom in downtown Fort Worth, Texas, on Friday of last week. Nine defendants, who federal prosecutors claimed were part of an “antifa cell,” were found guilty of an array of charges, including providing “material support” for terrorism, for attending a demonstration outside an ICE facility that turned violent on July 4, 2025. The verdict is a clear victory for the Trump administration, which, after Charlie Kirk’s assassination, has stretched the definition of “domestic terrorist organization” to include a staggeringly broad set of “terroristic activities,” such as “extremism on migration, race, and gender.” The Trump administration had already informally labeled its perceived enemies as radical terrorists, from Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti, who were killed by federal agents in January, to Marimar Martinez, who was shot several times by a Border Patrol agent last year. But last Friday, for the first time, the formal designation stuck in court.

NPR - The Supreme Court yesterday temporarily halted the Trump administration’s plan to deport some 6,000 Syrians and 350,000 Haitians who had received Temporary Protected Status from Presidents Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and Trump himself in his first term. The court has also expedited arguments for these cases to April, with a decision likely by the end of June. Federal law allows presidents to grant TPS for people in the U.S. whose home country is experiencing armed conflict, natural disasters and other extraordinary, temporary conditions. Trump wants to end TPS for individuals from 13 countries, including Myanmar, Nepal, Honduras, Nicaragua, Afghanistan, Cameroon, Yemen, Somalia, Ethiopia, South Sudan and Venezuela

The Guardian - A federal judge has blocked Robert F Kennedy Jr’s unprecedented overhaul of vaccine recommendations and ruled that his appointment of a controversial panel of vaccine advisers likely violated federal law, staying all votes taken by the committee.

Judge Brian E Murphy ruled on a lawsuit brought by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) against the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Richard Hughes IV, one of the lawyers representing the AAP, said: “This is a major victory.” The federal government may appeal.

What law did Kennedy break? He likely violated the Federal Advisory Committee Act when he fired all 17 members of the advisory committee on immunization practices and replaced them with his own hand-picked advisers, the judge found.