Dear listeners,
We start this week with more firings. Trump’s Department of Justice has fired dozens of line prosecutors who worked on January 6 cases. They probably can’t ultimately do that — there are civil service protections and such — but the move will render the already-underperforming prosecutorial office in Washington D.C. even more understaffed, among other problems. Meanwhile, at the FBI, the administration is seeking the names of agents who worked on the cases — likely thousands of them — but is so far facing resistance from the acting director, “Drizz.”
Trump’s flurry of executive actions has drawn a flurry of litigation, much of it related to the Administrative Procedure Act. States and grantees are suing to stop the OMB funding pause, and finding success so far. Unions representing government workers are suing Elon Musk’s access to their information. Several anonymous FBI agents are even suing to stop disclosure to Trump officials of which cases they worked on — something I’m surprised they could possibly have a right to, but Ken says they might, under the Privacy Act. There’s also a lawsuit fighting Trump’s executive order defunding grants related to DEI — the law that governs this case is complex, and Professor Steve Vladeck has a useful overview on when the federal government may or may not condition your funding on what you say or do, whether you are a government or a private party.
Meanwhile, the actions of the DOGE team seem like they might be illegal on several dimensions. Ken and I discuss what remedies there might be, and also the threats from acting US Attorney Ed Martin to bring bogus investigations against people who commit offenses like disclosing the names of people who work for Elon Musk.
Finally, we take a look at the assist the FCC is giving Trump as he seeks to shake down Paramount, and we recognize another recipient of the Senate Twink Memorial Award for Belatedly Good Judgment: former politician Mark Robinson, who has decided to stop suing CNN for reporting on his prolific career as a gross message board poster.
We hope you enjoy the episode,
Josh
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