Tag Archives: New York

Ft. Worth Star Telegram: ‘Null and Void’: Judge Strikes Down Executive Order

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A U.S. federal judge recently ruled that Executive Order 14230, which targeted law firm Perkins Coie LLP, is unconstitutional. Judge Beryl A. Howell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued the ruling in the case Perkins Coie LLP v. U.S. Department of Justice, et al. The court has granted Perkins Coie’s Motion for Summary Judgment, permanently blocking the enforcement of the executive order.

The court declared the executive order “null and void,” invalidating restrictions that stripped security clearances from Perkins Coie lawyers and halted their dealings with the government. The U.S. Department of Justice, the primary defendant, attempted to dismiss the lawsuit, claiming the executive order was valid, but the court rejected this argument.

‘Null and Void’: Judge Strikes Down Executive Order
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https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/null-and-void-judge-strikes-down-executive-order/ss-AA1EIHeq

Washington Post: In rare move, Congress pushes back on Trump over Library of Congress

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Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Congress refuses to accept the appointment of King Donald’s stooge as the head of their library:

In a rare bipartisan effort to defend its institutional authority, Congress is quietly resisting President Donald Trump’s attempt to assert control over the Library of Congress — a move that experts say threatens the separation of powers and the integrity of the legislative branch’s premier research body.

Pushing back on Trump’s designation of Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche as acting librarian, lawmakers said Tuesday that control of the institution remains with its top career official, Robert R. Newlen. Newlen told staff at the library that he is the acting head, according to an email obtained by The Washington Post.

In rare move, Congress pushes back on Trump over Library of Congress
Lawmakers are raising separation-of-powers concerns as the White House seeks to install a Justice Department official at the legislative-branch institution.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/05/13/trump-library-of-congress-power-struggle

Associated Press: Trump administration fires top copyright official days after firing Librarian of Congress

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The Trump administration has fired the nation’s top copyright official, Shira Perlmutter, days after abruptly terminating the head of the Library of Congress, which oversees the U.S. Copyright Office.

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Perlmutter’s office recently released a report examining whether artificial intelligence companies can use copyrighted materials to “train” their AI systems and then compete in the same market as the human-made works they were trained on.

The report, the third part of a lengthy AI study, follows a review that Perlmutter began in 2023 with opinions from thousands of people including AI developers, actors and country singers.

In January, the office clarified its approach as one based on the “centrality of human creativity” in authoring a work that warrants copyright protections. The office receives about half a million copyright applications per year covering millions of creative works.

“Where that creativity is expressed through the use of AI systems, it continues to enjoy protection,” Perlmutter said in January. “Extending protection to material whose expressive elements are determined by a machine … would undermine rather than further the constitutional goals of copyright.”

Trump administration fires top copyright official days after firing Librarian of Congress
The Trump administration has fired the nation’s top copyright official, Shira Perlmutter. The move comes days after the abrupt termination of the head of the Library of Congress, which oversees the U.S.

https://apnews.com/article/copyright-director-firing-government-trump-7ab99992a96131bce7de853b66feec68

Trump fires Copyright Office director after report raises questions about AI training | TechCrunch
President Donald Trump has fired Shira Perlmutter, who leads the U.S. Copyright Office. The firing was reported by CBS News and Politico, and seemingly

NBC News: Kash Patel’s new way of leading the FBI: Fewer morning intel briefings, more pro sports events

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Supporters of the new director say he is bringing needed change. Some current and former FBI and DOJ officials worry he is not taking the job seriously enough.

Patel’s approach to his new job has raised concerns that he is not taking the position seriously enough, a dozen current and former DOJ and FBI officials told NBC News.

Officials who worked on the morning director’s briefings were told that the schedule was changed because Patel sometimes failed to arrive on time, said two current and two former FBI and Justice Department officials familiar with the matter.

At the same time, Patel has drawn attention for regularly appearing with celebrities at professional sporting events around the country, according to flight logs and social media posts.

Since taking office on Feb. 20, Patel appears to have made three flights on FBI planes to Nashville, Tennessee, where his girlfriend, a country singer, lives; two flights to Las Vegas, where he has a home; and one flight to New York, where he attended a professional hockey game. FBI policy in recent years has mandated that directors fly on government aircraft for security reasons.

Kash Patel’s new way of leading the FBI: Fewer morning intel briefings, more pro sports events
Supporters of the new director say he is bringing needed change. Some current and former FBI and DOJ officials worry he is not taking the job seriously enough.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/rcna202865

Family Detained in Immigration Raid in Tom Homan’s Hometown Is Released

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Residents of Sackets Harbor, New York, protested the detention of a mother and her three school-aged children.

A mother and her three children swept up in an immigration raid in the hometown of border czar Tom Homan have been released following an outpouring of support from locals outraged at their detention.

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The response in Sackets Harbor and the surrounding Jefferson County, located on the shores of Lake Ontario on the western edge of New York’s North Country Region, was one of disbelief and anger — not least because Homan hails from the area and owns a home in Sackets Harbor.

Slimeball liar changes his tune:

In initial statements about the detention of the family, a CBP spokesperson indicated the family was in the process of deportation. But amid the backlash, Homan told a local news channel last week that the family was merely being questioned for their own safety, due to the nature of the allegations against the man targeted in the raid.

You haul a mother and three children all the way to a Texas prison just so they can be “questioned for their own safety”? Friggin’ liar!

Family Detained in Immigration Raid in Tom Homan’s Hometown Is Released
Residents of Sackets Harbor, New York, protested the detention of a mother and her three school-aged children.

“They Actually Had a List”: ICE Arrests Workers Involved in Landmark Labor Rights Case

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“We are concerned at the appearance of targeting publicly pro-union worker leaders,” said a union official about a raid in western New York.

An immigration raid in western New York on Friday targeted a group of immigrants involved in a landmark statewide effort by farm workers to unionize.

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Several of the workers taken into custody on Friday have been active in efforts to unionize year-round employees, including at least one who has spoken publicly in favor of joining the United Farm Workers of America, according to Elizabeth Strater, director of strategic campaigns for UFW, the storied labor union. 

“We are concerned at the appearance of targeting publicly pro-union worker leaders,” said Strater.

“They Actually Had a List”: ICE Arrests Workers Involved in Landmark Labor Rights Case
“We are concerned at the appearance of targeting publicly pro-union worker leaders,” said a UFW official about an ICE raid in New York.

Washington Post: This Los Angeles port is among the first casualties of Trump’s trade war

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Empty berths and idle cranes show the effects of sky-high tariffs on Chinese goods.

The number of shipping containers that arrived at the nation’s top container port last week was roughly one-third lower than during the same period last year — a sharper decline than during the depths of the Great Recession. More than one-fifth of the giant ships that were scheduled to call in Los Angeles this month have already canceled, and that number is expected to rise.

Trump’s 145 percent tariffs on Chinese goods — and Beijing’s triple-digit retaliation — are bringing a swift halt to the trans-Pacific flow of electronics, clothing, furniture, industrial parts and everything else that the world’s two largest economies exchange.

los-angeles-port-tariffs-trade-tensions

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/05/11/los-angeles-port-tariffs-trade-tensions

NJ.com: Another sign that Trump bromance is hurting Elon Musk and Tesla

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Despite some analysts who believe Tesla stock will make a comeback — and there are those even suggesting a bull run — some employees (who already have sold their stock) don’t have the same perspective.

According to Business Insider, Musk is telling workers in Texas to take a week off:

Tesla told Austin workers on its Model Y and Cybertruck lines to stay home for the week of Memorial Day, three workers told Business Insider.

The break is unusually long, the workers said. Production lines were up and running during the same period last year, they said.

The electric vehicle maker notified employees earlier this week. The workers, who are paid hourly, were told they could either take paid time off or come in for cleaning and training but would not be working on the production line.

The workers said their schedules had been increasingly inconsistent since February. Some said they had been sent home early on multiple occasions.

So, what could have happened between December and May that might have triggered the collapse? Here’s The Guardian’s guess:

Never before has the world’s richest person been deputized by the US president to cull the very agencies that oversee his businesses. Musk’s attempts to radically dismantle government bureaus have won him sprawling influence. His team has embedded its members in key roles across federal agencies, gained access to personal data on millions of Americans and fired tens of thousands of workers. SpaceX, where he is CEO, is now poised to take over potential government contracts worth billions. He has left a trail of chaos while seeding the government with his allies, who will probably help him profit and preserve his newfound power.

Sounds about right.

Another sign that Trump bromance is hurting Elon Musk and Tesla
Bad news, bad news and more bad news for Tesla

https://www.nj.com/politics/2025/05/another-sign-that-trump-bromance-is-hurting-elon-musk-and-tesla.html

Fox News: Pete Hegseth says West Point professor who resigned over Trump admin education overhaul ‘will not be missed’

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A West Point professor’s resignation over education shifts brought, in part, by the Trump administration, drew a scathing comment from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. 

West Point philosophy professor Graham Parsons announced his resignation Thursday, following a 13-year tenure with the academy. Hegseth quickly took to social media, voicing his opinion after the departure.

“You will not be missed Professor Parsons,” Hegseth wrote in response to Parsons’ resignation.

This is quintessential Hegseth — no class, no tact, no sense of decency. Four more years of Hegseth will leave our military in shambles.

Pete Hegseth says West Point professor who resigned over Trump admin education overhaul ‘will not be missed’
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, in a scathing X post Thursday, said a West Point professor who resigned from the academy will not be missed.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/pete-hegseth-says-west-point-professor-who-resigned-over-trump-admin-education-overhaul-will-not-missed

Daily Beast: Kash Patel Is Seriously Infuriating FBI Officials

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Day 30 (of 187) what…me worry? | technolandy: site of Ian Landy

FBI Director Kash Patel has alarmed some members of the bureau by taking what they say is an overly casual approach to the role.

President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the nation’s domestic intelligence and security service is a former prosecutor and political adviser who had little if any law enforcement experience when the president nominated him to head the bureau.

But instead of throwing himself into the job and trying to gain credibility with the officials he’s been tasked with leading, a dozen current and former officials at the FBI and Department of Justice said they worried he wasn’t taking the position seriously enough, NBC News reported.

For decades, the FBI chief has received an 8:30 a.m. daily “director’s brief” with the most important information gathered from thousands of agents and analysts. Patel reportedly had trouble making the morning briefing, so it was dropped from five days a week to two.

“Even that has been a struggle,” an unnamed official told NBC.

Two current FBI officials said Patel sometimes seems uninterested in the materials, forcing them to try to create briefs that will hold his attention.

Patel also ended a long-standing practice of holding secure weekly video conferences with field office leaders across the country, according to NBC. The meetings were considered a crucial way to share information and priorities across the bureau.

Kash Patel Is Seriously Infuriating FBI Officials
The FBI director has canceled key intelligence briefings and upset rank-and-file by carrying a field agent badge he never earned.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/kash-patel-is-seriously-infuriating-fbi-officials