Today’s edition of quick hits.
* The White House’s latest legal setback, Part I: “A federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s offer of buyouts to federal workers. Today was the deadline for employees to accept the controversial packages, which Democratic lawmakers have warned are legally dubious and have not received congressional authorization.”
* The White House’s latest legal setback, Part II: “For the second time this week, a federal judge has issued a nationwide preliminary injunction to block President Trump’s effort to end automatic citizenship for babies born on U.S. soil to undocumented immigrants. The decision, handed down on Thursday morning in Seattle, came a day after a judge in Maryland issued a nationwide injunction against President Trump’s executive order seeking to ban birthright citizenship.”
* This is the first such lawsuit, but it’s unlikely to be the last: “The Trump administration sued the state of Illinois and the city of Chicago on Thursday, alleging that their sanctuary city policies are blocking federal authorities from enforcing immigration laws. The federal lawsuit is the first by President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice against states or municipalities that have sanctuary city policies in effect.”
* In Central America: “Panama President José Raúl Mulino said on Thursday the U.S. was spreading ‘lies and falsehoods’ after the State Department claimed U.S. government vessels would be able to pass through the Panama Canal without paying.”
* Bird flu news: “The U.S. Department of Agriculture has detected a bird flu strain in dairy cattle that previously had not been seen in cows, the agency’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service said on Wednesday. Before this detection, all of the 957 bird flu infections among dairy cow herds reported since the outbreak began last year had been caused by the same strain of the virus, according to the USDA.”
* A handful of readers have asked about this, and it’s as odd as it seems: “The day after Sean Duffy was confirmed as President Trump’s transportation secretary, he signed a memo dictating how federal transportation funds should be allocated. The list of new criteria included one directive that stood out: All of the department’s grant and loan programs should prioritize projects in ‘communities with marriage and birthrates higher than the national average,’ to the extent allowed by law.”
* Brazen: “As President Donald Trump moved last month to free the people who stormed the U.S. Capitol, his newly appointed top prosecutor in Washington put his name on a request that a judge drop charges against one of them he represented as a defense attorney. Lawyers generally are prohibited from taking both sides in the same case and U.S. Justice Department regulations require lawyers to step aside from cases involving their former clients for at least a year.”
* Tell me again about how much Republicans respect the military: “President Donald Trump’s administration evicted former Coast Guard Commandant Linda Fagan from her home with three hours of notice on Tuesday — not even enough time to gather her personal effects — according to two people familiar with the incident.”
See you tomorrow.
