Washington
Supreme Court should keep whistleblower agency head in place for now, lawyers say in reply to Trump
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court should reject an emergency appeal from the Trump administration asking for quick action to allow the firing of the head of the federal agency that protects whistleblowers, lawyers for the embattled official told the justices on Tuesday.
The legal fight over the administration’s move to oust Hampton Dellinger as the leader of the Office of Special Counsel is the first of an anticipated steady stream of pleas to the high court from lawyers for President Donald Trump and his administration seeking to block court orders that have slowed his second-term agenda.
After Dellinger sued to block his removal from office, a district judge in Washington, D.C., temporarily reinstated him in an order that expires on Feb. 26. A federal appeals court panel refused to intervene.
A day later, the Justice Department took the case to the justices, arguing that Trump has unbridled power to fire the heads of independent agencies. The brief cited last year’s Supreme Court decision that gave Trump immunity from criminal prosecution and reflected a muscular view of executive power.
Dellinger has argued that the law that created the whistleblowers’ office says he can only be fired for problems with the performance of his job, none of which were cited in the email dismissing him.
But on Tuesday, his lawyers said the justices don’t have to reach potentially weighty issues of presidential power at the moment. They should rely on standard legal rules that typically do not allow the appeal of a short-lasting court order known as a temporary restraining order, Dellinger’s lawyers wrote.
“At bottom, there is no merit to the government’s effort to declare a five-alarm fire based on a short-lived TRO that preserves” Dellinger’s job while lower courts weigh the legal issues, Dellinger’s lawyers wrote.
The Office of Special Counsel is responsible for guarding the federal workforce from illegal personnel actions, such as retaliation for whistleblowing. Dellinger was appointed by Democratic President Joe Biden and confirmed by the Senate to a five-year term in 2024.
California
DOJ fires 20 immigration judges from backlogged courts amid major government cuts
SAN DIEGO (AP) — The Trump administration fired 20 immigration judges without explanation, a union official said Saturday amid sweeping moves to shrink the size of the federal government.
On Friday, 13 judges who had yet to be sworn in and five assistant chief immigration judges were dismissed without notice, said Matthew Biggs, president of the International Federation of Professional & Technical Engineers,
which represents federal workers. Two other judges were fired under similar circumstances in the last week.
It was unclear if they would be replaced. The U.S. Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review, which runs the courts and oversees its roughly 700 judges, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday.
Immigration courts are backlogged with more than 3.7 million cases, according to Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, and it takes years to decide asylum cases. There is support across the political spectrum for more judges and support staff, though the first Trump administration also pressured some judges to decide cases more quickly.
The Trump administration earlier replaced five top court officials, including Mary Cheng, the agency’s acting director. Sirce Owen, the current leader and previously an appellate immigration judge, has issued a slew of new instructions, many reversing policies of the Biden administration.
Last month, the Justice Department halted financial support for nongovernmental organizations to provide information and guidance to people facing deportation but restored funding after a coalition of nonprofit groups filed a federal lawsuit.
The firings touch on two top Trump priorities: mass deportations and shrinking the size of the federal government. On Thursday, it ordered agencies to lay off nearly all probationary employees who had not yet gained civil service protection, potentially affecting hundreds of thousands of workers. Probationary workers generally have less than a year on the job.
Biggs, the union official, said he didn’t know if the judges’ firings were intended to send a message on immigration policy and characterized them as part of a campaign across the federal workforce.
“They’re treating these people as if they’re not human beings,” he said. “It’s bad all around.”
Texas
Ex-Guatemalan congressman gets 18 years in U.S. prison in international drug trafficking conspiracy
PLANO, Texas (AP) — A former Guatemalan congressman was sentenced in the U.S. to 18 years in federal prison last week after pleading guilty to being involved in an international drug trafficking conspiracy, the U.S. Department of Justice said Tuesday.
Jose Armando Ubico Aguilar, 45, was sentenced Feb. 11 by U.S. District Judge Michael Truncale in Plano, a suburb of Dallas, federal prosecutors said in a news release.
Acting U.S. Attorney Abe McGlothin Jr. of the Eastern District of Texas said in the news release that Ubico Aguilar had “brokered and facilitated” shipments of cocaine into the U.S.
A federal grand jury indicted Ubico Aguilar in March 2021 on charges of federal drug trafficking violations, according to prosecutors. Prosecutors said that Ubico Aguilar arrived in the U.S. in May 2024 and pleaded guilty, admitting that he relayed drug-related information and U.S. currency to another Guatemalan official on behalf of an international drug trafficker.
Prosecutors said his actions resulted in the safe passage of at least 450 kilograms (992 pounds) of cocaine through Guatemala for distribution in the U.S.
Supreme Court should keep whistleblower agency head in place for now, lawyers say in reply to Trump
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court should reject an emergency appeal from the Trump administration asking for quick action to allow the firing of the head of the federal agency that protects whistleblowers, lawyers for the embattled official told the justices on Tuesday.
The legal fight over the administration’s move to oust Hampton Dellinger as the leader of the Office of Special Counsel is the first of an anticipated steady stream of pleas to the high court from lawyers for President Donald Trump and his administration seeking to block court orders that have slowed his second-term agenda.
After Dellinger sued to block his removal from office, a district judge in Washington, D.C., temporarily reinstated him in an order that expires on Feb. 26. A federal appeals court panel refused to intervene.
A day later, the Justice Department took the case to the justices, arguing that Trump has unbridled power to fire the heads of independent agencies. The brief cited last year’s Supreme Court decision that gave Trump immunity from criminal prosecution and reflected a muscular view of executive power.
Dellinger has argued that the law that created the whistleblowers’ office says he can only be fired for problems with the performance of his job, none of which were cited in the email dismissing him.
But on Tuesday, his lawyers said the justices don’t have to reach potentially weighty issues of presidential power at the moment. They should rely on standard legal rules that typically do not allow the appeal of a short-lasting court order known as a temporary restraining order, Dellinger’s lawyers wrote.
“At bottom, there is no merit to the government’s effort to declare a five-alarm fire based on a short-lived TRO that preserves” Dellinger’s job while lower courts weigh the legal issues, Dellinger’s lawyers wrote.
The Office of Special Counsel is responsible for guarding the federal workforce from illegal personnel actions, such as retaliation for whistleblowing. Dellinger was appointed by Democratic President Joe Biden and confirmed by the Senate to a five-year term in 2024.
California
DOJ fires 20 immigration judges from backlogged courts amid major government cuts
SAN DIEGO (AP) — The Trump administration fired 20 immigration judges without explanation, a union official said Saturday amid sweeping moves to shrink the size of the federal government.
On Friday, 13 judges who had yet to be sworn in and five assistant chief immigration judges were dismissed without notice, said Matthew Biggs, president of the International Federation of Professional & Technical Engineers,
which represents federal workers. Two other judges were fired under similar circumstances in the last week.
It was unclear if they would be replaced. The U.S. Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review, which runs the courts and oversees its roughly 700 judges, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday.
Immigration courts are backlogged with more than 3.7 million cases, according to Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, and it takes years to decide asylum cases. There is support across the political spectrum for more judges and support staff, though the first Trump administration also pressured some judges to decide cases more quickly.
The Trump administration earlier replaced five top court officials, including Mary Cheng, the agency’s acting director. Sirce Owen, the current leader and previously an appellate immigration judge, has issued a slew of new instructions, many reversing policies of the Biden administration.
Last month, the Justice Department halted financial support for nongovernmental organizations to provide information and guidance to people facing deportation but restored funding after a coalition of nonprofit groups filed a federal lawsuit.
The firings touch on two top Trump priorities: mass deportations and shrinking the size of the federal government. On Thursday, it ordered agencies to lay off nearly all probationary employees who had not yet gained civil service protection, potentially affecting hundreds of thousands of workers. Probationary workers generally have less than a year on the job.
Biggs, the union official, said he didn’t know if the judges’ firings were intended to send a message on immigration policy and characterized them as part of a campaign across the federal workforce.
“They’re treating these people as if they’re not human beings,” he said. “It’s bad all around.”
Texas
Ex-Guatemalan congressman gets 18 years in U.S. prison in international drug trafficking conspiracy
PLANO, Texas (AP) — A former Guatemalan congressman was sentenced in the U.S. to 18 years in federal prison last week after pleading guilty to being involved in an international drug trafficking conspiracy, the U.S. Department of Justice said Tuesday.
Jose Armando Ubico Aguilar, 45, was sentenced Feb. 11 by U.S. District Judge Michael Truncale in Plano, a suburb of Dallas, federal prosecutors said in a news release.
Acting U.S. Attorney Abe McGlothin Jr. of the Eastern District of Texas said in the news release that Ubico Aguilar had “brokered and facilitated” shipments of cocaine into the U.S.
A federal grand jury indicted Ubico Aguilar in March 2021 on charges of federal drug trafficking violations, according to prosecutors. Prosecutors said that Ubico Aguilar arrived in the U.S. in May 2024 and pleaded guilty, admitting that he relayed drug-related information and U.S. currency to another Guatemalan official on behalf of an international drug trafficker.
Prosecutors said his actions resulted in the safe passage of at least 450 kilograms (992 pounds) of cocaine through Guatemala for distribution in the U.S.
