Federal judges have temporarily barred several of Trump’s directives from taking effect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The courts are slamming the brakes on some of President Donald Trump<\/a>‘s efforts to quickly trim and transform the federal government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In his first weeks in office, Trump has signed more than 50 executive orders<\/a> aimed at reshaping the government, from targeting birthright citizenship to changing how transgender inmates are housed. Government agencies have also used the orders to try to freeze federal funding nationwide and offer buyouts to the bulk of government employees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The flood of orders has led to over two dozen lawsuits to date and a number of court decisions halting \u2014 at least temporarily \u2014 some of Trump’s actions. At least three such decisions were released Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here’s a look at Trump orders the courts have halted:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Retirees and union members filed a legal challenge to the Treasury Department’s decision to allow staffers from Elon Musk\u2019s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, access to the federal government\u2019s massive payment and collections system \u2014 and the personal data housed in it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Arguing that the move violated federal privacy laws, they’re seeking an order barring DOGE from accessing the data and requiring the return of any data that has already been harvested. The Justice Department has agreed to restrict some access<\/a> to the systems pending the results of a full hearing on the matter on Feb. 24.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a related case this week, a group of union members filed a suit\u2002<\/a>seeking to block DOGE, which Trump created, from accessing confidential information from the Labor Department. U.S. District Judge John D. Bates heard arguments in that case late Friday and said he’ll rule “when I can.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another challenge is in the pipeline: A coalition of 12 states announced plans Thursday to sue over DOGE’s access<\/a> to the Treasury system, as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On Thursday night, a pair of unions sued the Trump administration over its efforts to\u2002dismantle\u2002<\/a>the U.S. Agency for International Development<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At an emergency hearing Friday in Washington D.C. federal court, U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols said he would pause a midnight deadline<\/a> for USAID to be stripped down to a few hundred workers<\/a>. The announcement came just hours before 2,200 USAID employees were scheduled to be placed on administrative leave, which would have taken effect at 11:59 p.m. ET Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nichols said he would be issuing a \u201cvery limited\u201d written temporary restraining order before midnight that would also address whether 500 employees already on leave will have that leave rescinded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As part of Trump’s effort to downsize the federal workforce, the Office of Personnel Management recently announced a mass “deferred resignation<\/a>” program that would allow workers to resign now but get paid through September. The stated deadline to accept the offer was Thursday night, and a senior administration official said earlier in the day that 60,000 people ha<\/a>d<\/a>\u2002accepted<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Labor unions for federal workers sued to stop<\/a> the program, arguing that the Trump administration does not have legal authority to offer such buyouts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A federal judge in Boston blocked the government<\/a> Thursday from implementing the buyouts until at least Monday, when he will have a hearing on the issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One consequence of the judge’s order is that it also extended how long workers have to respond to the resignation offer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe are grateful to the Judge for extending the deadline so more federal workers who refuse to show up to the office can take the Administration up on this very generous, once-in-a-lifetime offer,\u201d White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told NBC News in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the most controversial of Trump’s executive orders was one called \u201cProtecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship,\u201d which seeks to restrict birthright citizenship. It seeks to limit such citizenship to people who have at least one parent who is a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, and it says that those born to parents who are in the country legally but temporarily will no longer be automatically guaranteed citizenship, including those with high-skill work visas and student visas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A number of lawsuits across the country are challenging the order. Federal judges in Maryland and Washington state this week issued nationwide preliminary injunctions<\/a> blocking it from taking effect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In his ruling Thursday, U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour wrote, “Citizenship by birth is an unequivocal constitutional right.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n The judge in Seattle wrote, “The President cannot change, limit or qualify this Constitutional right via an executive order.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Justice Department appealed the Seattle decision Thursday night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A pair of federal judges temporarily blocked a federal aid funding freeze\u2002<\/a>directed by the Trump administration in response to his executive orders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A memo from the Office of Management and Budget<\/a> last week directed federal agencies to \u201ctemporarily pause all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance, and other relevant agency activities that may be implicated by the executive orders\u201d pertaining to topics like foreign aid and diversity, equity and inclusion programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The memo said the pause would allow the administration to review which programs are \u201cconsistent\u201d with Trump\u2019s agenda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The vaguely worded memo was withdrawn after confusion about what aid would be halted spread and people and organizations reported being unable to access systems to receive federal aid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a ruling Friday, U.S. District Judge John J. McConnell in Rhode Island signed off on a temporary restraining order after the memo was withdrawn, noting that Leavitt had tweeted to the public that \u201cThis is NOT a rescission<\/a> of the federal funding freeze. It is simply a rescission of the OMB memo.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n The judge found the White House’s actions appeared to violate the law. \u201cFederal law specifies how the Executive should act if it believes that appropriations are inconsistent with the President\u2019s priorities \u2014 it must ask Congress, not act unilaterally,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan issued her ruling Monday in the separate Washington, D.C., case, she noted that <\/strong>even after the memo was withdrawn<\/a>, there were \u201cindividuals who are still having issues accessing funding platforms.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat indicates to me the memo is still doing some work,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another of Trump\u2019s orders targeted transgender inmates, saying the federal Bureau of Prisons was now required to ensure that \u201cmales are not detained in women\u2019s prisons.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n That led to two lawsuits filed on behalf of four transgender women prisoners who were scheduled to be transferred to men’s facilities. They argued that the order constituted cruel and unusual punishment because they would be at serious risk of violence and sexual assault in a facility for men.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Two judges blocked the inmates from being moved.<\/p>\n\n\n\nDOGE<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
USAID<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Government buyouts<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Birthright citizenship<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Funding freeze<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Transgender inmates<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n