March 2026 — Timeline — Standing Record

Mar 31

Trump signs second federal-elections executive order asserting presidential control over voter eligibility and mail voting

On March 31, 2026, President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14399, "Ensuring Citizenship Verification and Integrity in Federal Elections," directing the Department of Homeland Security and Social Security Administration to compile federal "citizenship verification" lists and instructing the U.S. Postal Service to deliver mail ballots only to voters on those lists. Constitutional law experts, federal courts, and 24 state attorneys general have stated that the president has no authority under the Elections Clause (Art. I, Sec. 4) to set federal voting procedures — a position that already produced a 2025 injunction against substantial portions of Trump's first elections executive order.

Mar 31

Hegseth lifts Apache crews' suspensions and quashes Army investigation of Kid Rock estate flyby

On March 31, 2026, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on his personal X account that the Army aircrews suspended over a March 28 Apache helicopter flyby of singer Kid Rock's Nashville estate would face "No punishment. No investigation," lifting the suspensions and quashing the Army's formal review hours after the service had confirmed it. The reversal came shortly after President Trump commented publicly on the incident, and Hegseth opened his post by thanking Kid Rock.

Mar 31

U.S. Department of Justice subpoenaed Reddit via secret D.C. grand jury to unmask anti-ICE critic

On March 31, 2026, the Department of Justice ordered Reddit to appear before a secret federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., by April 14 and hand over the name, address, phone number, IP address, and other identifying data of an anonymous user who had criticized ICE in posts. The subpoena came four days after DOJ withdrew a separate administrative summons seeking the same information, which the user's attorneys had moved to quash in federal court in California.

Mar 31

Idaho Gov. Little signed HB 561, fining cities $2,000 a day for displaying an LGBTQ+ pride flag on government property

On March 31, 2026, Idaho Governor Brad Little signed House Bill 561, which restricts flags on state and local government property to a pre-approved list and authorizes $2,000-per-day fines, enforced by the attorney general, against cities that display non-approved flags. The bill's House sponsor acknowledged the measure was aimed at Boise, which had flown an LGBTQ+ pride flag at City Hall. The city removed the flag at noon the same day, minutes after the signing.

Discriminatory policy

Mar 30

DOJ sues Minnesota to force transgender athletes out of girls' sports

The Justice Department filed a federal lawsuit against the Minnesota Department of Education and the Minnesota State High School League, alleging that the state's trans-inclusive athletics policies violate Title IX by allowing transgender girls to compete in girls' sports and use girls' locker rooms and bathrooms. The suit seeks a permanent injunction barring transgender girls from female-designated sports, sex-separated locker rooms and bathrooms, compensation for female athletes, and "correction" of past athletic records — with roughly $2.98 billion in annual federal education funding at stake.

Mar 30

ICE detains Milwaukee Islamic Society president Salah Sarsour over decades-old West Bank record

Roughly a dozen ICE vehicles surrounded Salah Sarsour — a lawful permanent resident of more than 30 years and five-year board president of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, Wisconsin's largest Islamic organization — on Milwaukee's south side, where by his family's account a plainclothes officer pointed a gun at him before identifying the arrest as immigration custody. He was moved to the Broadview Detention Center in Illinois and then to a county jail in Indiana, and DHS publicly branded him a "terrorist" and an "illegal alien from Jordan," resting on an Israeli military-court conviction from his teenage years that his counsel says the government knew about when it admitted him in 1993. His attorneys say the government is also invoking the foreign-policy-threat ground used against Mahmoud Khalil and that the case is retaliation for his Palestinian-rights advocacy.

Mar 30

ICE stationed at Parris Island gates to screen Marine recruits' families during graduation week

The Marine Corps confirmed that ICE agents would be stationed at access points of Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island during recruit family days and graduation week to conduct "enhanced screening and lawful immigration status inquiries" on visiting families of graduating Marines — by the depot's own account, the first time federal law enforcement has supported base access operations there in this capacity. After NBC News reported the notice, DHS denied that arrests would occur, defense officials blamed an internal communications failure, and the depot's guidance was revised — though the updated rules still bar visitors without legal status from the installation entirely.

Mar 30

Rutherford County, TN library board fired director who refused to move 100+ LGBTQ books from children's section

On March 30, 2026, the Rutherford County Library Board in Murfreesboro, Tennessee voted 8-3 to fire library system director Luanne James for refusing to comply with the board's March 16 vote to relocate more than 100 LGBTQ-themed books from the children's section to the adult section of county libraries. James had stated that moving the books would violate First Amendment protections and her professional obligation against government-mandated viewpoint discrimination.

Censorship of protected expression

Mar 30

South Dakota Gov. Rhoden signed HB1184 codifying binary sex definitions and ending state recognition of transgender people

On March 30, 2026, South Dakota Governor Larry Rhoden signed HB1184, "Define man and woman throughout the state," into law after the Legislature passed it by votes of 57-9 in the House and 30-4 in the Senate. The law establishes binary statutory definitions of "man," "woman," "male," and "female" based on reproductive biology at birth throughout South Dakota code and prohibits the use of state funds for anything contrary to those definitions. It removes legal recognition of transgender and nonbinary people across state government.

Mar 30

South Dakota state Sen. Tom Pischke charged with forging 16 GOP nomination forms to shift county party control

On or about March 30, 2026, 16 forged nomination forms for Minnehaha County Republican precinct-committee positions were filed with the county auditor, listing residents as candidates without their knowledge or signatures. A sheriff's investigation citing DNA on the envelopes, video of the drop-off, and handwriting analysis identified state Sen. Tom Pischke, who was charged on June 23, 2026 with two felony counts of offering a false or forged instrument for filing. Precinct-committee members help choose county party leadership and serve as delegates who nominate the party's statewide candidates.

Election misinformation

Mar 30

Idaho Gov. Little signed HB 752, nation's strictest criminal transgender bathroom ban

On March 30, 2026, Idaho Governor Brad Little signed House Bill 752, making Idaho the first state with a criminal bathroom ban extending to private businesses and imposing the steepest penalties nationally. The law makes it a misdemeanor (up to one year in prison) and repeat felony (up to five years) to use bathrooms not matching one's "biological sex" in any government or private facility open to the public. On June 16, 2026, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement, finding the law likely unconstitutional due to vagueness.

Mar 29

CNN revealed FEMA contractor Kara Voorhies exercised de facto agency authority in violation of federal regulations

On March 29, 2026, CNN reported that Kara Voorhies, an outside contractor installed at DHS by Secretary Kristi Noem and adviser Corey Lewandowski, exercised de facto governing authority over FEMA — approving disaster-aid disbursements, reviewing White House-bound documents, and influencing personnel and budget decisions — despite federal regulations barring contractors from exercising inherently governmental functions. The DHS Office of Inspector General opened an investigation into contracting practices under Noem; investigators seized Voorhies's government-issued equipment after her termination following Noem's departure.

Mar 28

DHS agent's less-lethal projectile destroyed USC student's eye as he documented Los Angeles 'No Kings' protest

On March 28, 2026, a Department of Homeland Security agent fired a less-lethal projectile that struck USC freshman Tucker Collins in his right eye as he documented a "No Kings" protest outside the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles. The projectile destroyed his eyeball and fractured the bones in his eye socket; doctors surgically removed his eye. Collins, who was photographing the protest from behind a barrier and separated from agents, said he heard no warnings before the shot; DHS maintained that seven warnings were issued before crowd-control measures were deployed.

Mar 27

Internal emails revealed DHS acting General Counsel Joseph Mazzara urged agents to have 'started hitting' Los Angeles anti-ICE protesters

Internal Department of Homeland Security emails, disclosed by the watchdog group American Oversight on March 27, 2026, showed that then-acting DHS General Counsel Joseph Mazzara suggested federal agents in Los Angeles should have "just started hitting" anti-ICE protesters and should have arrested "everyone that couldn't get away" during the June 2025 demonstrations. American Oversight obtained two versions of the records — one with failed redactions and one with successful ones — indicating an attempt to conceal Mazzara's remarks. The disclosure followed a federal court's ruling that the accompanying National Guard deployment to Los Angeles was illegal.

Excessive force by law enforcement

Mar 27

Hegseth struck two Black men and two women from Army one-star general promotion list

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth unilaterally struck four Army colonels — two Black men and two women — from a roughly three-dozen-name list recommended for promotion to brigadier general, removals revealed March 27, 2026 by the New York Times; the majority of the remaining names are white men. Army leadership, including Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, had refused Hegseth's requests for months before he crossed the names off himself earlier in March, and it is unclear he has legal authority to do so. Neither the Pentagon nor the White House has offered any performance-based rationale for the removals.

Mar 27

FCC Chair Carr boasts at CPAC that Trump is 'winning' against the 'fake news media'

At the Conservative Political Action Conference in Grapevine, Texas on March 27, 2026, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr declared that President Trump "is winning" his fight against the "fake news media," citing the defunding of PBS and NPR, the departures of named journalists and hosts, and ownership changes at CBS and CNN as "results." Carr added the administration was "not at the point yet" of "raising the mission accomplished flag," a week after he had warned broadcasters they would "lose their licenses" over Iran War coverage he called "hoaxes and news distortions."

Mar 27

DOJ admits in Rhode Island filing that voter-data analysis it denied in court has begun

One day after telling a federal judge at argument in United States v. Amore that no analysis had been conducted on the nonpublic state voter registration data in its possession, DOJ's Civil Rights Division filed a "Clarification of Record" admitting that preliminary internal analysis had in fact begun — specifically, identifying and quantifying "duplicate and deceased" registered voters in each state. The correction came a day after CBS News revealed DOJ was finalizing a deal to share voter-roll data with DHS, and after DOJ attorneys had assured judges in Connecticut and Minnesota that the data was not being analyzed or shared.

Voter suppression

Mar 26

Trump signs EO 14398 exposing federal contractors' DEI programs to False Claims Act liability

On March 26, 2026, President Trump signed Executive Order 14398, "Addressing DEI Discrimination by Federal Contractors," directing agencies to insert a mandatory clause — flowing down to subcontractors at every tier — that bars "racially discriminatory" diversity, equity, and inclusion practices and makes compliance material to government payment decisions, exposing contractors to False Claims Act liability and to cancellation, suspension, or debarment. The order directs the Attorney General to prioritize False Claims Act enforcement against violators and defines covered "program participation" expansively to include training, mentoring, leadership-development programs, clubs, and associations. A legal challenge was filed within days, and the new clause was set to take effect April 24, 2026.

Mar 26

DOJ opened civil-rights investigations into California and Maine for housing transgender women with female inmates

The U.S. Department of Justice announced on March 26, 2026 that it is investigating whether California and Maine violate female inmates' constitutional rights by housing transgender women with them at three correctional facilities. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon framed the action as protecting incarcerated women, while Maine's governor's spokesman called it "a politically motivated, predetermined investigation designed to target states that stand up to the Trump Administration."

Mar 26

Deputy AG Blanche boasts every DOJ and FBI employee who investigated Trump is gone

At a CPAC fireside chat on March 26, 2026, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche declared that every Justice Department and FBI employee who worked on the criminal investigations into President Trump had been fired, resigned, or taken early retirement — "not a single man or woman" remained — putting the DOJ figure at "over 200." His public confirmation marked the completion of a systematic purge of the career personnel who had investigated the president, with termination letters citing employees' prosecution work as the reason they could not be "trusted."

Mar 26

South Dakota Gov. Rhoden signed SB 175 requiring proof of citizenship for new voter registrations

On March 26, 2026, South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden signed Senate Bill 175, requiring documentary proof of citizenship — a birth certificate, passport, driver's license, or similar document — from anyone registering to vote in the state for the first time, effective immediately under an emergency clause ahead of the June 2 primary. Voters who don't provide such documentation are still registered but receive a "federal-only" ballot excluding them from state and local races, and the law separately requires a physical South Dakota address, barring mail-forwarding services or P.O. boxes, for state and local registration. By May 2026, roughly 1,500 South Dakota voters had been registered as federal-only under the law.

Voter suppression

Mar 25

José Guadalupe Ramos-Solano dies in ICE custody at GEO Group-run Adelanto facility

José Guadalupe Ramos-Solano, a 45-year-old Mexican national, was found unconscious in his bunk and pronounced dead on March 25, 2026, while detained at the GEO Group-operated Adelanto ICE Processing Center in California. Other detainees said he had complained of overheating and difficulty breathing hours earlier and that staff did not respond until he was unresponsive. His death was the 14th known death in ICE custody in 2026 and at least the fourth at the Adelanto complex since 2025, prompting Mexico's Los Angeles consulate and two members of Congress to demand an investigation.

Mar 25

DHS deported valid DACA recipient Jessica Treviño, then cited her own deportation to try to terminate her status

On March 25, 2026, U.S. immigration authorities deported Jessica Treviño, a 34-year-old DACA recipient and mother of three U.S.-citizen children, to Mexico despite her holding valid DACA status through April 2027. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services subsequently issued a notice of intent to terminate her DACA status on the grounds of "unauthorized travel outside of the United States" — the very deportation the Department of Homeland Security itself had carried out. Treviño's attorney filed a federal lawsuit in Brownsville seeking a declaration that her removal was unlawful, her return to the United States, and restoration of her DACA status.

Denial of due process in immigration enforcement

Mar 25

JTF Southern Spear killed 4 aboard suspected narcotics vessel in Caribbean Sea; 47th strike, ~163 campaign deaths

On March 25, 2026, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted its 47th lethal kinetic strike on an alleged drug-trafficking vessel in the Caribbean Sea, killing four people. SOUTHCOM identified the vessel as engaged in narco-trafficking but provided no public evidence against those killed and no identification of the victims. The strike drew international condemnation — UN special rapporteur Ben Saul had 13 days earlier called the campaign "serial extrajudicial killings" with "no justification under international law."

Mar 25

DOJ opens Title VI probes into Stanford, Ohio State, and UC San Diego medical schools

On March 25, 2026, the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division opened Title VI compliance-review investigations into the medical schools of Stanford University, the Ohio State University, and the University of California, San Diego, over alleged race discrimination in admissions. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon announced the probes, and the Division sent letters demanding seven years of applicant data — MCAT scores, GPAs, ZIP codes, family ties to alumni or donors, internal DEI communications, and correspondence with pharmaceutical companies — by an April 24, 2026 deadline, citing the schools' federal funding.

Mar 25

DOJ opened civil-rights investigation into LAUSD's gender-identity disclosure policy for transgender students

On March 25, 2026, the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division sent a letter to Los Angeles Unified School District opening a civil-rights investigation into the district's gender-identity disclosure policy, which gives school staff discretion on whether to inform parents about a student's gender identity. The probe was authorized by Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who framed the action around what she called parents' fundamental rights to direct their children's upbringing and education. The investigation was connected in part to a lawsuit from parents who allege LAUSD's policy contributed to the suicide of their transgender child.

Mar 25

Bill Pulte issued two new criminal referrals against NY AG Letitia James after prior indictment was dismissed and two grand juries declined

On March 25, 2026, HUD Secretary and FHFA Director Bill Pulte issued two new criminal referrals to the DOJ targeting New York Attorney General Letitia James, alleging suspected homeowners insurance fraud tied to insurance applications in Florida and Illinois. The referrals were routed to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois — different venues from earlier referrals that produced an indictment a court dismissed and two successive grand jury declines. James's attorneys characterized the action as part of a continuing "revenge campaign" by officials "frustrated by repeated failures, where judges and grand juries have rejected their attempts."

Mar 25

DOJ agrees to pay Trump ally Michael Flynn $1.25M to settle malicious-prosecution suit

On March 25, 2026, the U.S. Justice Department agreed to pay $1.25 million to retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, President Trump's former national security adviser, to settle his lawsuit alleging malicious prosecution over his 2017 criminal case. Flynn had pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI and was later pardoned by Trump; he originally sued for $50 million in 2023 and revived the case after Trump returned to office. The settlement was reached under DOJ leadership Flynn publicly thanked by name.

Politicization of the Justice Department

Mar 25

Utah Gov. Cox signed S.B. 174, letting health care providers refuse treatment on religious or moral grounds

On March 25, 2026, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox signed S.B. 174, the "Exercise of Religious Beliefs and Conscience Amendments," sponsored by Sen. Keven Stratton (R-Orem). The law permits health care providers to decline non-emergency treatments or services that conflict with their religious or moral beliefs, requiring them only to notify the Utah Department of Health and Human Services and post notice. Public-health groups and LGBTQ advocates warned it could create barriers to vaccine, reproductive, and LGBTQ-related care.

Mar 24

HUD launched a Fair Housing investigation into Washington's Covenant Homeownership Program for communities excluded by racially restrictive covenants

On March 24, 2026, HUD's Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity launched a Fair Housing Act investigation into Washington State's Covenant Homeownership Program, a down-payment and closing-cost assistance initiative created by bipartisan 2023 state legislation to address documented racially restrictive housing covenants that had historically excluded Black, Hispanic, Native American, Pacific Islander, and Indigenous homebuyers. HUD Secretary Scott Turner announced the investigation stating "DEI is dead at HUD," asserting that a preliminary review "strongly suggests" the program violates the Fair Housing Act; a final determination remained pending. A federal judge had denied a legal challenge to the program in February 2026, finding that Washington had a compelling interest in addressing racial disparities in homeownership. Washington became the third state or local government targeted by HUD for such investigations, following prior probes into Minneapolis and Boston housing programs.

Mar 24

Montana Gov. Gianforte signed SB 437 redefining sex as a fixed binary across state law, overriding transgender and intersex recognition

On March 24, 2026, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte signed Senate Bill 437, which defines "sex" as a binary — male or female — based on reproductive anatomy across more than 60 provisions of state law and treats "gender" as a synonym for that biological definition rather than gender identity. The law requires transgender, nonbinary, intersex, and Two Spirit people to be designated by their sex assigned at birth on state documents such as driver's and marriage licenses. Sponsored by Sen. Carl Glimm, the measure had passed the Senate in April 2025 but sat unsigned for nearly a year before Gianforte and House Speaker Brandon Ler signed it the same day.

Mar 24

University of North Texas staff dismantled student protest art installation and power-washed chalk messages at CVAD Gallery

On the morning of March 24, 2026, University of North Texas facilities staff, directed by university technician Jonathan Figueroa and acting on instructions from the university's lawyers, dismantled and discarded a student-organized outdoor protest art installation outside the CVAD Gallery in Denton, Texas. The memorial, curated by the student group NOISE, had stood for nearly a month in response to UNT's February 2026 removal of artist Victor "Marka27" Quiñonez's ICE-critical exhibition. Staff also power-washed sidewalk chalk messages from walkways where the university's own policy explicitly permits chalking.

Censorship of protected expression

Mar 23

Pentagon declares in-building press workspace off-limits days after court ordered access restored

On March 23, 2026 — three days after a federal judge permanently enjoined the Defense Department's earlier press restrictions as unconstitutional — Pentagon chief spokesman Sean Parnell announced that the in-building press workspace, including the decades-old "Correspondents' Corridor," was now entirely off-limits to journalists. The department said a replacement workspace would be relocated to an annex outside the Pentagon and that all journalist access would henceforth require an escort by authorized personnel. The New York Times and the Pentagon Press Association called the move a violation of the court's order and a retaliatory narrowing of press access.

Access restrictions targeting critical outlets

Mar 23

USAGM leadership directed Voice of America to publish White House talking points as news, journalists' lawsuit alleged

On March 23, 2026, Voice of America journalists and press-freedom groups sued the U.S. Agency for Global Media, Kari Lake, and acting CEO Michael Rigas, alleging USAGM leadership directed VOA to publish White House talking points nearly verbatim as news and suppress disfavored coverage, including reporting on the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. The suit alleges this compelled propaganda violates the statutory firewall protecting VOA's editorial independence and the First Amendment.

Mar 23

Trump ordered ICE deployed to 14 airports as explicit shutdown pressure on Democrats, displacing TSA roles

On March 23, 2026, President Trump ordered armed, uniformed ICE agents deployed to at least 14 major U.S. airports — including Phoenix, Houston, Chicago, New York, and New Orleans — to staff security checkpoints alongside TSA officers during a partial government shutdown that had begun February 14, 2026. Trump stated the deployment was intended to "ramp up pressure on Democrats" over shutdown funding, and threatened to deploy the National Guard to airports if ICE's presence proved insufficient.

Executive overreach

Mar 23

TSA shared passenger screening data with ICE to target and detain asylum-seeking mother at San Francisco airport

On March 23, 2026, Transportation Security Administration agents at San Francisco International Airport shared passenger screening data with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, alerting ICE that Guatemalan mother Angelina Lopez-Jimenez and her young daughter would be boarding a flight, resulting in Lopez-Jimenez's public detention in Terminal 3 as bystanders recorded the arrest. TSA had been sharing passenger information with immigration officials for roughly a year under a program flagging individuals subject to deportation orders, first reported by the New York Times in December 2025 but largely unnoticed until the SFO incident.

Improper collection or dissemination of personal data

Mar 23

Trump White House declassified closed FBI file on Rep. Swalwell during his gubernatorial campaign

On March 23, 2026, the Trump White House declassified a decade-old, closed FBI investigative file on then-Rep. Eric Swalwell's past association with suspected Chinese intelligence operative Christine Fang, months before California's June 2026 gubernatorial primary in which Swalwell was a leading Democratic candidate. FBI Director Kash Patel had pushed for the file's release even though the bureau's own 2017 review found no corruption violations by Swalwell. Swalwell's attorneys sent Patel a cease-and-desist letter warning the release would violate federal privacy law and the Justice Department's norm against election-season investigatory action targeting a candidate.

Mar 23

Utah Gov. Cox signed HB404 letting landlords bar transgender renters from sex-designated housing

On March 23, 2026, Utah Governor Spencer Cox signed HB404, the Sex-Designated Housing Amendments, into law. The measure adds an exemption to the Utah Fair Housing Act allowing landlords to designate shared-occupancy housing as single-sex based on biological sex and to restrict occupancy accordingly, permitting the exclusion of transgender renters based on birth sex rather than gender identity.

Mar 22

ICE agents violently arrest mother and daughter at San Francisco International Airport

On the night of March 22, 2026, plainclothes ICE agents forcibly arrested a woman, later identified by DHS as Angelina Lopez-Jimenez, and her roughly 10-year-old daughter inside San Francisco International Airport, holding the crying woman on the floor and wheeling her away in restraints while refusing bystanders' requests to identify themselves or show badges. About a dozen San Francisco police officers formed a barrier around the agents but did not intervene. DHS said the family was subject to a 2019 final order of removal and was being repatriated to Guatemala; the arrest coincided with a new federal deployment of ICE agents to U.S. airports.

Mar 20

State Department declares wartime emergency to bypass Congress on $23B in Mideast arms sales

On March 20, 2026, the State Department declared a national-security "wartime emergency" to bypass Congress and force through more than $23 billion in arms sales to the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Jordan. Secretary of State Marco Rubio invoked emergency-certification authority under the Arms Export Control Act to waive the statutory congressional-review window across 11 weapons packages — some still under review on Capitol Hill, others never formally submitted to Congress. Coverage described it as the administration's second use of emergency authority to circumvent congressional approval of arms transfers since the war with Iran began.

Mar 20

ICE held nearly 1,560 children past 20-day Flores limit at Dilley facility over six months; 13-year-old attempted suicide after care denied

Court filings submitted March 20, 2026, and July 15, 2026, in the Flores v. Bondi/Blanche family-detention case documented that nearly 1,560 immigrant children were held at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Dilley, Texas facility beyond the 20-day limit set by the Flores settlement over a six-month window, without adequate food, medical care, or mental-health services. The March 20 filings described a 13-year-old girl who attempted suicide by cutting her wrist after Dilley staff withheld her prescribed antidepressants and denied her request to be reunited with her mother, even as the government's own records reported "no placements on suicide watch." The Department of Homeland Security disputed the allegations and reiterated that the administration is seeking to terminate the Flores settlement altogether.

Mar 20

DOE and Commerce awarded SoftBank a federal AI data-center land deal two months after its $50 million gift to Trump's library

On March 20, 2026, the U.S. Department of Energy and Department of Commerce announced a partnership letting SoftBank subsidiary SB Energy redevelop the former Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant near Piketon, Ohio into a 10-gigawatt AI data-center campus on federal land. SoftBank had donated $50 million to Trump's presidential library in January 2026, while its proposal was reported to be on the administration's shortlist for the project; congressional Democrats disclosed the donation's timing on August 6, 2026, after SoftBank confirmed the dates in a written response to their inquiry.

Pay-to-play

Mar 20

DOJ moved to dismiss remaining charges against ex-officers who falsified Breonna Taylor warrant

On March 20, 2026, Justice Department prosecutors under Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon asked a federal judge in Louisville to dismiss "in the interest of justice" the remaining misdemeanor civil-rights charges against former Louisville detective Joshua Jaynes and former Sgt. Kyle Meany, the two officers accused of falsifying the warrant used in the 2020 raid that killed Breonna Taylor. The charges, originally brought as felonies by DOJ under the Biden administration, had already been reduced twice to misdemeanors by judges who found no direct link between the false warrant information and Taylor's death. The dismissal request followed the same DOJ's separate push, months earlier, for early release of Brett Hankison, the only officer convicted in connection with Taylor's killing.

Shielding officers from prosecution

Mar 20

ICE detained breastfeeding Nashville mother with valid work permit, denied her release

On March 20, 2026, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained Misslenys Hernandez Zabala, a Venezuelan asylum seeker with a valid work permit and Social Security number, in Nashville, Tennessee, moments after she dropped off her breastfeeding 10-month-old son with a nanny on her way to work. Despite pleas from immigrant-rights advocates citing her nursing infant and a pending court date not scheduled until 2028, ICE declined to release her.

Mar 19

NBC News investigation revealed Corey Lewandowski solicited kickback payments from DHS contractors GEO Group and Salus

NBC News published an investigation on March 19, 2026 reporting that Corey Lewandowski, a Department of Homeland Security special government employee functioning as de facto chief of staff to Secretary Kristi Noem, solicited payments from DHS contractors GEO Group and Salus Worldwide Solutions in exchange for protecting or securing their contracts. GEO Group's founder declined the demand, while representatives connected to Salus were told a Lewandowski-tied "consultant" needed to be hired to secure contracts worth up to $50 million. Congressional Democrats opened multiple investigations following the report, and Lewandowski denied the allegations through a spokesperson.

Mar 19

CDC blocks publication of cleared MMWR study showing COVID vaccine effectiveness

A CDC scientific report finding that the 2025–2026 COVID-19 vaccine roughly halved healthy adults' risk of emergency-department visits and hospitalizations was scheduled to run in the agency's flagship Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report on March 19, 2026, after clearing internal scientific review. Acting CDC Director Jay Bhattacharya blocked its publication, objecting to the study's test-negative design — a methodology the CDC has long used to measure vaccine effectiveness and that appeared in an MMWR flu-vaccine study the prior month. A former CDC immunization director called blocking an already-cleared, scheduled MMWR report unprecedented.

Suppression of public data

Mar 19

JTF Southern Spear killed two aboard suspected narcotics vessel in eastern Pacific; 46th strike, ~158 campaign deaths

On March 19, 2026, U.S. Southern Command (Joint Task Force Southern Spear) carried out a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel it described as transiting known narco-trafficking routes in the eastern Pacific Ocean, identified by USNI News as the 46th strike since the administration's maritime lethal-force campaign began on September 1, 2025. SOUTHCOM announced the strike the next day and said it had notified the U.S. Coast Guard to activate search and rescue for survivors; the Coast Guard ultimately rescued one survivor, and two people were killed. As throughout the campaign, which by this point had killed at least 156 people, those aboard were targeted without charge, trial, identification, or judicial authorization.

Extrajudicial actions

Mar 18

State Department adds 12 countries to $15,000 visa-bond program

On March 18, 2026, the State Department added 12 countries — Cambodia, Ethiopia, Georgia, Grenada, Lesotho, Mauritius, Mongolia, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Papua New Guinea, Seychelles, and Tunisia — to its visa-bond program, requiring B-1/B-2 visitor-visa applicants from those nations to post a refundable bond of $5,000, $10,000, or $15,000 as a condition of issuance, effective April 2, 2026. The addition brings the program to 50 countries, predominantly lower-income states; bonded travelers may enter only through commercial airports and are barred from land, sea, charter, and general-aviation ports of entry.

Mar 18

FBI Director Kash Patel admitted under oath that FBI buys Americans' location data from brokers without a warrant

On March 18, 2026, FBI Director Kash Patel testified under oath at a Senate Intelligence Committee worldwide threats hearing in Washington, D.C. that the FBI purchases Americans' location data from commercial data brokers rather than obtaining a warrant, in response to questioning from Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.). Patel said the practice is "consistent with the constitution and the laws under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act," directly reversing predecessor Christopher Wray's 2023 sworn testimony that the bureau had stopped the practice. Wyden called the warrantless purchase "an outrageous end run around the fourth amendment."

Improper collection or dissemination of personal data

Mar 18

Gabbard's 2026 threat assessment drops climate and foreign election-interference analysis

On March 18, 2026, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard released the Intelligence Community's 2026 Annual Threat Assessment and testified to the Senate and House intelligence committees. The assessment omitted the climate-and-environment analysis prior editions had carried — after Gabbard gutted the National Intelligence Council office covering those issues — and Gabbard told lawmakers the IC found no evidence of foreign threats to the November 2026 midterms, a departure from the community's prior findings on Russian and other election interference. Critics charged that the IC's flagship analytic product was being shaped to fit White House messaging.

Mar 18

Trump administration steered no-bid federal contracts worth up to $118M to Jan. 6 rally planner's firm Event Strategies

A March 18, 2026 New York Times report, later detailed in a July 2, 2026 House Natural Resources Committee Democratic staff oversight report, found that Event Strategies Inc.—an events firm formerly led by January 6 rally planner Justin Caporale—received an indefinite-delivery federal master contract worth up to $100 million plus more than $18 million in State Department contracts tied to the America250/Freedom250 anniversary events, all awarded outside competitive bidding. The State Department contracts, described blandly as "event planning" and "event support," listed the U.S. Chief of Protocol's office under Ambassador Monica Crowley as the funding office. Since the start of 2025 the firm had received 18 federal contracts connected to the semiquincentennial.

Mar 18

NPR investigation revealed ICE collected DNA samples from protesters arrested at immigration enforcement operations without related charges

An NPR investigation published March 18, 2026 documented six people arrested by federal immigration officers in Minnesota, Illinois, and Oregon while observing or protesting ICE operations who were then subjected to DNA cheek swabs despite facing no charges tied to their protest conduct. In the lead case, ICE officers tackled and detained a Minneapolis protest observer, identified only as Ben, for roughly three hours in late January 2026 before swabbing him, leaving him with three broken ribs. DHS told NPR federal law requires DNA collection from those arrested or facing charges, but legal scholars said applying that authority to civil-immigration protest arrests is constitutionally doubtful.

Mar 18

Former Bonner Springs, Kansas detective Kyle Rector charged with using Flock cameras, police databases to stalk estranged wife

On March 18, 2026, Wyandotte County, Kansas prosecutors filed 18 criminal charges against former Bonner Springs Police Department detective Kyle Rector, 39, after a Kansas Bureau of Investigation inquiry found he used Flock Safety license-plate readers, a department crime- center database, and his patrol vehicle to track his estranged wife and two men she was allegedly involved with. The surveillance began after the couple separated in November 2025 and continued after Rector's wife obtained a protection order in January 2026, which investigators say he violated with additional database searches; Bonner Springs police had already fired him on Jan. 26, 2026.

Improper collection or dissemination of personal data

Mar 18

Utah Gov. Cox signed HB 174, permanently banning hormone therapy for transgender minors

On March 18, 2026, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox signed House Bill 174, the "Sex Characteristic Change Treatment Amendments," converting the state's temporary 2023 moratorium on hormone therapy for transgender minors into a permanent ban. The law bars new hormone treatment for minors and requires most minors already receiving care to taper off within roughly six months of the law's May 2026 effective date, with a narrow exception for certain older adolescents. It passed both chambers by wide margins over the objections of civil-liberties groups.

Mar 17

DHS letter disclosed ICE detained 265, deported 132 abuse-survivor immigrant youths after ending SIJS deferred-action protections

A DHS letter to Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, obtained exclusively by NBC News, disclosed that ICE detained 265 and deported 132 young immigrants holding Special Immigrant Juvenile Status between January 20 and December 22, 2025. The administration ended the deferred-action policy that had generally protected SIJS recipients from deportation since 2022, and DHS did not disclose whether any of the 132 deported had criminal charges or convictions, while characterizing SIJS status as "infected with fraud."

Mar 15

Interim U.S. Attorney Darin Smith committed grand-jury misconduct in Wyoming case, calling defendants 'murderers'

On March 15, 2026, in Casper, Wyoming, interim U.S. Attorney Darin Smith told a federal grand jury the nine defendants in a firearms, drug, and child pornography case were "bad guys" and "murderers" before any evidence was presented, said deliberations "won't take long," and passed out business cards inviting improper ex parte contact with jurors. Three federal judges later found the conduct "deeply concerning" and dismissed the resulting indictments without prejudice.

Prosecutorial misconduct

Mar 15

AP investigation revealed DHS, ICE, State Department and USCIS immigration data had gone stale amid Trump's deportation push

An Associated Press investigation published March 15, 2026 found that federal immigration-enforcement data from the Department of Homeland Security, ICE, the State Department, and USCIS had gone stale or stopped updating amid the Trump administration's mass-deportation push. DHS's Office of Homeland Security Statistics had not updated its monthly enforcement reports since early 2025, ICE's arrest/removal dashboard had not updated past January 2025, and State Department and USCIS statistics had also gone stale, while DHS made inconsistent, unverifiable public claims about deportation totals. Researchers, including the UC Berkeley/UCLA Deportation Data Project, had to pursue FOIA litigation to reconstruct basic enforcement figures.

Mar 14

ICE detained Afghan war ally Mohammad Nazeer Paktiawal, who died in custody the next day after agents denied his inhaler

Mohammad Nazeer Paktiawal, a 41-year-old Afghan national who served alongside U.S. Army Special Forces, was detained by ICE agents outside his Richardson, Texas home on March 13, 2026, and died the next day at a Dallas hospital after suffering anaphylaxis and an asthma exacerbation in ICE custody. A death certificate reported July 6, 2026 lists the death as accidental, citing an unidentified adverse drug reaction; his family disputes the finding.

Mar 14

U.S. Border Patrol and ICE detained Canadian mother and her 7-year-old autistic daughter for 19 days despite valid work visa

On March 14, 2026, U.S. Border Patrol agents detained Canadian citizen Tania Warner and her seven-year-old autistic daughter, Ayla Lucas, at a checkpoint in Sarita, Texas, and ICE held them for 19 days at processing and family-detention facilities in Texas despite Warner holding a work visa valid through 2030. Neither DHS nor CBP explained the legal basis for the detention; a federal immigration judge released the pair on $9,500 bond on April 2, 2026, after finding they were not a flight risk.

Mar 14

ProPublica investigation revealed DHS election-security official pushed to ban voting machines, questioned Democratic wins

ProPublica reported on March 14, 2026, that David Harvilicz, the DHS assistant secretary overseeing the security of federal election infrastructure, has publicly called for banning voting machines and repeatedly questioned the validity of Democratic electoral victories. His deputy, Heather Honey, previously led the Election Integrity Network, a group that has challenged U.S. election legitimacy, and Harvilicz's team has been engaged in data-gathering efforts scouring voter rolls for noncitizens that have incorrectly flagged hundreds of citizens.

Mar 14

FCC Chair Carr threatens broadcasters' licenses over Iran war coverage

On Saturday, March 14, 2026, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr publicly warned that television broadcasters "running hoaxes and news distortions" about the war in Iran could "lose their licenses," telling them to "correct course before their license renewals come up." Carr issued the threat while amplifying a Truth Social post by President Trump attacking war coverage by outlets including The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. Media-law experts and lawmakers called the threat from the nation's chief broadcast regulator "authoritarian" and "unconstitutional."

Mar 13

CBP officer's personal vehicle struck LA protester outside federal detention center; no police report filed

On March 13, 2026, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer driving his personal vehicle struck protester Jasmin Alyssa Quan-Martinez outside the federal detention complex in downtown Los Angeles, with video showing her carried on the hood before being thrown to the curb; she sustained minor injuries. The Department of Homeland Security said roughly ten protesters had surrounded and struck the officer's car as he left work and characterized the incident as one "rioter" jumping onto a moving vehicle, an account Quan-Martinez disputed. No police report was filed and no arrests or charges had been announced in the days after.

Excessive force by law enforcement

Mar 13

Wright invokes Defense Production Act to override California, restart Sable oil pipelines

On March 13, 2026, President Trump signed an executive order delegating his Defense Production Act authority to Energy Secretary Chris Wright, who that same day ordered Sable Offshore Corp. to restart the Santa Ynez Unit and its offshore pipeline system along the California coast. The lines had been shut since the 2015 Refugio oil spill and remained subject to California regulatory approval; invoking the 1950 national-defense statute let the administration override the state hold, and oil resumed flowing on March 14. California Attorney General Rob Bonta sued days later, calling the order executive overreach that purported to authorize illegal oil transportation through state-regulated pipelines.

Mar 13

Education Department found Colorado's Jefferson County schools violated Title IX, threatened funding over trans-inclusive policies

On March 13, 2026, the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights concluded that Jefferson County Public Schools in Colorado violated Title IX by letting students access overnight accommodations, facilities, and sports teams based on gender identity rather than biological sex. OCR gave the district 10 days to sign a resolution agreement adopting biology-based eligibility rules or face enforcement, a finding Jeffco disputed as resting on a data error mistaking coaches, trainers, and mascots for male athletes on girls' teams.

Mar 13

Monroe County, Tenn. deputies arrested Facebook community-page operator Emma Berger over posting a public warrant

Monroe County, Tennessee sheriff's deputies arrested Emma Berger, who runs an 8,000-member community Facebook page, on a felony identity-theft charge on March 13, 2026, after she posted a publicly-filed arrest warrant that briefly contained unredacted personal information before she removed and re-posted a redacted version. District Attorney Stephen Hatchett dismissed the charge on March 23, 2026, calling it "legally flawed" and confirming his own office had originally supplied the warrant; Berger has sued Sheriff Tommy Jones alleging false arrest and a First Amendment violation.

Prosecution of protected speech

Mar 13

Texas Supreme Court ordered PFLAG to turn over internal transgender-youth records in Paxton probe on a mere-belief standard

On March 13, 2026, the Texas Supreme Court reversed a Travis County judge's limits and ordered PFLAG, an LGBTQ family-advocacy organization, to turn over internal communications and provider-referral records to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's office as part of his investigation into whether medical providers are circumventing the state's ban on gender-affirming care for minors through deceptive billing. Writing for the court, Chief Justice Jimmy Blacklock held that the AG's civil-investigative-demand authority is triggered by "mere belief," not proof, and that courts should not second-guess the AG's investigatory decisions. The AG's office agreed to redactions protecting the identities of the families and children named in the records.

Targeting marginalized communities

Mar 12

ICE deported four migrants to Eswatini on third third-country removal flight, bringing total to 19

On March 12, 2026, four migrants deported by the United States arrived in Eswatini, the third flight under the Trump administration's third-country removal arrangement, bringing the total transferred to the country to 19. Eswatini's government said the group included two Somali nationals and one each from Sudan and Tanzania, and confirmed they would be held at Matsapha Correctional Complex; human rights lawyers' court challenge to the removal arrangement had been dismissed at first instance, with an appeal pending.

Mar 12

Hegseth launches task force to ideologically review the military's senior service colleges

On March 12, 2026, Secretary of War (Defense) Pete Hegseth announced a 90-day task force to review the U.S. military's Senior Service Colleges — the Army War College, National Defense University, Naval War College, Marine Corps University, and Air War College — declaring that professional military education "should produce warfighters and leaders—not wokesters." Under Secretary for Personnel and Readiness Anthony Tata was tasked with standing up the review to scrutinize professors, administrators, and curriculum and to "rip out" courses and ideologies the department deems DEI-related, with the stated aim of refocusing the schools on national-security strategy, history, and warfighting.

Politicization of uniformed services

Mar 12

VTDigger reporting revealed Vermont prisons restricted immigration attorneys' access to ICE detainees under Commissioner Murad

VTDigger reporting published March 12, 2026, revealed that the Vermont Department of Corrections progressively restricted immigration attorneys' access to ICE detainees in state prisons after Jon Murad became interim, and later permanent, Commissioner in August 2025. Attorneys with the Vermont Asylum Assistance Project said the department stopped providing detainees' alien registration numbers in September 2025 and, in late October 2025, barred attorneys from bringing personal devices or volunteer paralegals into Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility in South Burlington and Northwest State Correctional Facility in St. Albans Town for interpretation, leaving them to share a single landline. Murad disputed the characterization, saying he was enforcing preexisting policy rather than imposing new restrictions.

Mar 11

CNN, ProPublica reported DHS sought access to restricted HHS child-support, employment database

CNN and ProPublica reported, independently and citing current and former federal officials, that the Department of Homeland Security requested access to HHS's restricted Federal Parent Locator Service, which holds child-support and employment data on millions of Americans, reportedly for immigration enforcement purposes. DHS and HHS both denied the request on the record when asked by CNN.

Mar 11

ICE rammed Vermont home on mistaken identity, detained three innocent immigrants whose subsequent detentions courts ruled unlawful

On March 11, 2026, ICE agents pursued a suspect to a home on Dorset Street in South Burlington, Vermont, obtained a search warrant, pulled activists from the front steps, and rammed through the front door — but did not find the man they were seeking. Instead, agents detained three other immigrant residents; federal and immigration judges later ruled all three detentions unlawful and ordered the men released. In a revised criminal complaint filed March 24, ICE agent Colton Riley acknowledged the agency no longer believed the man they chased had even been in the vehicle that triggered the pursuit — because one of the men detained in the raid told the FBI he was the actual driver.

Mar 11

ICE detained 14-year-old Brazilian girl in parked car in Marlboro, Mass.; held overnight without guardian

ICE agents detained a 14-year-old Brazilian girl with an expired visitor visa in a parked car in Marlboro, Massachusetts on March 11, 2026, holding her roughly 10 hours before transporting her overnight to a New York detention facility with no appropriate guardian present. U.S. District Judge Leo T. Sorokin ordered her immediate return the next day, and she was reunited with her U.S.-citizen aunt on March 13.

Mar 10

ICE re-detained Sheboygan Falls mother at routine check-in despite prior court-granted cancellation of removal

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement re-detained Elvira Benitez-Suarez, a 51-year-old Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin mother of four U.S. citizen children, during a routine supervision check-in at ICE's Milwaukee field office on March 10, 2026, months after an immigration judge granted her cancellation of removal and a path to permanent residency. It was the second time Benitez-Suarez, who has lived in the U.S. for 35 years with no criminal record, had been taken into ICE custody; she was transferred to the Campbell County Detention Center in Kentucky while the Department of Homeland Security appealed the judge's ruling. Her attorney filed a federal habeas corpus petition in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky seeking her release.

Mar 10

Trump administration began forced third-country deportations to Moldova

ICE sent the first group of third-country nationals to Moldova on an ICE Air charter flight on March 10, 2026, the first such removal to the country, according to Human Rights First's ICE Flight Monitor. No agreement between the U.S. and Moldova has ever been disclosed; among those sent were Russian asylum seekers, including anti-war activists and draft evaders, some of whom did not speak Moldovan or have any connection to the country.

Denial of due process in immigration enforcement

Mar 10

Whistleblower alleged ex-DOGE employee retained Social Security data on personal device, claimed remote-alter access

On March 10, 2026, The Washington Post reported a whistleblower's allegation that a former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) employee at the Social Security Administration had retained copies of tightly restricted SSA databases covering nearly every living American -- including one on a personal thumb drive -- and claimed continued "God-level" access letting him remotely alter SSA records, with plans to share the data with a private-sector employer. SSA's inspector general confirmed to congressional committees it had opened an investigation into the anonymous complaint, and House Oversight Committee Ranking Member Robert Garcia demanded briefings from SSA and the OIG and requested transcribed interviews with former DOGE employees by March 23, 2026. SSA, the former employee, and the company he allegedly went to work for all disputed the allegations.

Improper collection or dissemination of personal data

Mar 10

Iowa Gov. Reynolds signed SF579 barring local civil-rights protections broader than state law

On March 10, 2026, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed Senate File 579, amending the Iowa Civil Rights Act so that cities and counties may no longer enact anti-discrimination protections broader than or different from state law. Because Iowa statute does not include gender identity, the law nullifies local ordinances in roughly 14 cities and Johnson County — including Iowa City and Des Moines — that had extended protections to transgender residents in housing, employment, and public accommodations. It also ends the requirement that larger cities maintain independent local civil-rights agencies, routing complaints to the state.

Mar 10

Mississippi Secretary of State Watson rolled out unverified Experian data, marking 50,000 voters inactive and blocking some from March primaries

In July 2025, Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson's office distributed unverified consumer credit address data from Experian to all county election officials statewide, to be used as a new tool to identify voters who may have moved. Experian's TrueTrace product, which infers likely addresses from spending patterns, does not verify residency — a limitation Experian disclosed to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. Mississippi Today's investigation found the unverified data was used to mark approximately 50,000 registered voters inactive, some of whom still resided at their registered addresses and were blocked from casting a counted ballot during the March 10, 2026 congressional primaries.

Voter suppression

Mar 10

Montana AG Knudsen issued a cease-and-desist ordering Helena to rescind its sanctuary-city resolution under state grant-funding threat

On March 10, 2026, Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen sent Helena a cease-and-desist letter declaring the city's January 26 sanctuary-city resolution a "blatant violation" of the state's 2021 ban on sanctuary jurisdictions and demanding the commission rescind or amend it within 15 days. The letter warned that continued non-compliance could trigger $10,000 fines for every five days out of compliance and the withholding of state grant funds, placing approximately $14 million in annual state and federal funding at risk. Facing that financial pressure, Helena's city commission voted 4–1 to rescind the resolution entirely at a six-hour special meeting on March 26, 2026.

Mar 9

ICE re-detained Baltimore man in defiance of federal release order, moved him toward deportation to Eswatini

On March 9, 2026, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement re-detained Ibrahim Mohammed, a Baltimore-area Ethiopian man, roughly five weeks after a federal judge in Louisiana had ordered his release and found ICE's prior detention of him unconstitutional. ICE served Mohammed a Notice of Revocation of Release on March 10 and moved him toward the airport for removal to Eswatini, a country he had never been to, before U.S. District Judge John deGravelles issued an emergency five-day restraining order blocking his deportation. DeGravelles found no evidence Mohammed had been given the process his own order required before either the re-detention or the planned third-country removal.

Mar 9

FBI obtains Arizona Senate's 2020 Maricopa election audit records via grand-jury subpoena

In early March 2026 the FBI served the Arizona Senate a federal grand-jury subpoena for digital records from the chamber's discredited 2021 "audit" of Maricopa County's 2020 presidential election; Senate President Warren Petersen, a Republican, disclosed on March 9 that he had received and complied with it. The 2021 review — run by the Trump-allied firm Cyber Ninjas — had itself confirmed that Joe Biden won the county. State election officials condemned the subpoena as part of a federal campaign to relitigate an election that President Trump lost.

Mar 9

DOJ dropped Ticketmaster breakup demand, settled Live Nation antitrust case mid-trial; Trump had personally called CEO Rapino before deal

On March 9, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice reached a surprise mid-trial settlement with Live Nation Entertainment, abandoning its demand for Ticketmaster's divestiture and accepting structural remedies that included a fee cap and a $280 million fund — far short of the breakup the Biden-era DOJ had sought. The settlement was announced while the antitrust trial was underway in New York and blindsided the judge and the DOJ's own trial team. A court filing disclosed June 24, 2026 documented that President Trump had personally spoken with Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino before the settlement was reached, and that Live Nation had hired Trump allies during the same period.

Mar 9

Federal judge found ICE, Border Patrol made warrantless, race-based stops of Somali, Latino Minnesotans

U.S. District Judge Eric Tostrud ruled on March 9, 2026 that ICE and Border Patrol agents violated the Fourth Amendment by stopping and detaining Somali and Latino Minnesotans based solely on race or ethnicity during a January-February 2026 immigration enforcement surge in the Twin Cities. Of 33 witnesses examined in an ACLU class-action suit, Tostrud found 23 were subjected to stops lacking reasonable suspicion, and 17 were stopped based solely on race or ethnicity; he denied a preliminary injunction and class certification, citing the surge's wind-down.

Mar 9

ICE and CoreCivic detained trans asylum seeker Karla Saenz in Eloy's men's unit, denied her hormone care, and held her in solitary

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained Karla Saenz, a 26-year-old transgender asylum seeker and Trans Queer Pueblo organizer, during a March 9, 2026 check-in at USCIS offices in Phoenix, and held her for 44 days at CoreCivic's Eloy Detention Center in Arizona. She said she was held in solitary confinement for five days, denied hormone treatment and chronic-illness medication for weeks, housed in the facility's men's unit and misgendered by staff, and pressured more than ten times to sign a voluntary-departure form before a federal judge ordered her release on April 21. ICE disputed her account, calling the mistreatment allegations "entirely false."

Mar 9

Wyoming enacted a 2026 budget footnote barring public funds, including Medicaid, from gender-affirming care

On March 9, 2026, Wyoming enacted Senate File 0001, its 2026 biennial general-government appropriations act, which Gov. Mark Gordon signed after line-item vetoing roughly two dozen other items and footnotes. A Department of Health footnote (Section 048, Footnote 1) bars the department from expending any general, federal, or other funds under its control to pay for "an elective abortion or a gender transition procedure," or for facilities, equipment, or training used to carry them out, through June 30, 2028. Because the department administers Wyoming Medicaid, the footnote cuts off public coverage of gender-affirming care for transgender residents.

Mar 8

JTF Southern Spear killed six aboard suspected narcotics vessel in eastern Pacific; 45th strike, ~157 campaign deaths

On Sunday, March 8, 2026, U.S. Southern Command announced a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel in the eastern Pacific Ocean it described as "operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations," killing six men. SOUTHCOM said the strike was ordered by its commander, Marine Gen. Francis L. Donovan, and carried out by Joint Task Force Southern Spear against a boat allegedly transiting known narco-trafficking routes. It was the campaign's 45th announced strike, bringing Operation Southern Spear's reported cumulative death toll to roughly 156-157 people, and as in every prior strike the Pentagon provided no public evidence the vessel carried narcotics and did not identify those killed.

Extrajudicial actions

Mar 6

State Department declares emergency to bypass Congress on $151.8M Israel bomb sale

On March 6, 2026, the U.S. Department of State approved an emergency Foreign Military Sale to Israel of 12,000 BLU-110A/B 1,000-pound bomb bodies and related support, valued at about $151.8 million. Secretary of State Marco Rubio formally determined that an emergency existed requiring the immediate sale, invoking Section 36(b) of the Arms Export Control Act to waive the statutory congressional-review period. It was the administration's first AECA emergency declaration to bypass Congress on an arms sale to Israel, coming roughly a week into the joint U.S.-Israel air war against Iran.

Mar 6

Trump fired NTSB member Todd Inman before his term was set to expire in 2027

On March 6, 2026, the White House fired National Transportation Safety Board member Todd Inman without stated cause, despite his term running through the end of 2027. The administration later said the firing was based on allegations of on-the-job drinking, staff harassment, misuse of government resources, and missed meetings; Inman, a Republican appointed under the Biden administration, denied the allegations and called the firing "a political hit job." The dismissal follows a pattern of the administration removing members of other independent multi-member boards, including the Federal Reserve, the Surface Transportation Board, the EEOC, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, ahead of their statutory terms.

Mar 6

DHS and ICE began construction on a 1,500-bed Maryland detention facility without the environmental review NEPA requires

On March 6, 2026, the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement proceeded, on schedule, with a roughly $113 million construction project converting an 825,620-square-foot warehouse near Williamsport, Maryland — purchased by DHS for $102.4 million on January 16, 2026 — into a 1,500-bed detention facility, without conducting the environmental review required under the National Environmental Policy Act or considering reasonable alternatives as required under the Administrative Procedure Act. Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown had already sued over the same failure on February 23, 2026. A federal judge later found the project likely required NEPA review that had not been conducted.

Ignoring statutory requirements

Mar 6

DOJ stands up working group to fast-track indictments of Cuban Communist Party leaders

In early March 2026, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Jason A. Reding Quiñones stood up a multi-agency working group, including the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, directed to pursue rapid criminal indictments of Cuban Communist Party and military leadership on drug, economic, immigration, and violent-crime charges. Reporting framed the initiative as a politically driven effort deliberately modeled on the DOJ's earlier narco-terrorism case against Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro, whose indictment was used to justify his removal. The working group produced an April 23, 2026 grand-jury indictment of 94-year-old former Cuban president Raúl Castro and other senior figures, announced May 20, 2026.

Politicized investigations

Mar 6

Loudermilk and Jordan referred Jan. 6 witness Cassidy Hutchinson to DOJ for potential prosecution over her testimony against Trump

Rep. Barry Loudermilk, joined by House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, filed a criminal referral of former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson with the Justice Department, CNN reported on March 6, 2026, accusing her of lying to Congress in her June 2022 testimony about President Trump's conduct on January 6, 2021. Hutchinson had testified as the January 6 select committee's star witness that Trump knew of the potential for violence that day and pressed ahead with urging supporters toward the Capitol anyway, and separately described hearing secondhand that he tried to grab the steering wheel of his presidential vehicle after being told he could not join the crowd. The referral asks DOJ to consider criminal charges against her over that testimony.

Mar 6

Trump Organization files 'Trump 250' trademark applications tied to U.S. 250th anniversary

On March 6, 2026, DTTM Operations LLC — the entity that manages President Donald Trump's trademarks — filed five federal trademark applications for "Trump 250," covering merchandise such as clothing, drinkware, tote bags, stickers, and golf balls. The intent-to-use filings, tied to the nation's taxpayer-funded 250th-anniversary commemoration, would let the president's family business sell or license branded products around the milestone. Government-ethics observers questioned whether the sitting president is positioning his private company to profit from an official national event.

Mar 6

Wyoming Gov. Gordon signed HB 122 barring the state's rural health transformation funds from gender-affirming care

On March 6, 2026, Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon signed House Bill 122, the Wyoming Rural Health Transformation Program act (enrolled as HEA 21), which governs how the state spends roughly $205 million in federal Rural Health Transformation Program money. The law's Section 35-25-708(a) bars any of those funds from being spent on abortions or on "sex-trait modification procedures" as defined in 45 C.F.R. § 156.400 — categorically excluding gender-affirming care from a major public health funding stream.

Mar 5

Pentagon brands Anthropic a 'supply chain risk' in retaliation for refusing unrestricted military use of its AI models

On March 5, 2026, the U.S. Department of Defense formally notified Anthropic that the company and its products were designated a "supply chain risk," effective immediately — a label normally reserved for firms tied to foreign adversaries and reportedly the first publicly applied to an American company. The designation, which bars defense contractors from using Anthropic's technology, followed the breakdown of contract talks: the Pentagon demanded access to Anthropic's Claude models "for all lawful purposes," while the company's acceptable-use policy barred their use for fully autonomous weapons and mass domestic surveillance of Americans. After Anthropic refused to drop those limits, President Trump on February 27 ordered agencies and contractors to halt business with the company and called its stance a "disastrous mistake," and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth tied the designation directly to the firm's refusal to comply — even as the military continued using Claude to support intelligence and targeting work.

Mar 5

Pentagon formally designated Anthropic a 'supply chain risk' after AI-guardrails dispute

On March 5, 2026, the Department of Defense formally notified Anthropic that the company and its products were designated a "supply chain risk," a label normally reserved for foreign adversaries, after Anthropic refused to drop acceptable-use limits barring its Claude models from mass domestic surveillance and fully autonomous weapons. The Pentagon, which gave the military up to six months to phase out the technology, framed the move as ensuring it could use the tools "for all lawful purposes"; Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called the action "retaliatory and punitive" and said the company would challenge it in court. The designation came even as the U.S. military was reportedly using Claude to support its operations in the Iran campaign.

Mar 5

ICE and DHS failed to return property to Minnesota immigrants ordered released, prompting contempt threat

On March 5, 2026, U.S. District Judge John Tunheim held a "show cause" hearing in Minneapolis after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security failed to return work permits, driver's licenses, Social Security cards, cash, and other property to more than two dozen immigrants whom courts had ordered released from Operation Metro Surge detentions. Tunheim threatened daily civil fines if the agencies missed a roughly 30-day deadline to return the property or compensate the detainees, rejecting U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen's argument that the failures were mistakes rather than willful noncompliance. It was the second Minnesota federal judge in a week to threaten contempt over the government's handling of Metro Surge release orders.

Defying court orders

Mar 5

ICE and CoreCivic held disabled detainee in unsanitary conditions at Stewart Detention Center, forcing him to crawl through mold and feces to shower

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and its contractor CoreCivic held Rodney Taylor, a 47-year-old double-amputee Gwinnett County barber, in unsanitary and unaccommodated conditions for more than a year at the CoreCivic-run Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia. Rep. Lucy McBath disclosed at a March 5, 2026 House Judiciary Committee hearing that Taylor went six days without a shower stool and then was forced to remove his prosthetics and crawl across a bathroom floor covered in mold and feces to shower; DHS Secretary Kristi Noem told the committee she was unfamiliar with the case.

Violence in immigration enforcement

Mar 5

DOJ proposes rule letting the Attorney General halt state bar discipline of its attorneys

On March 5, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice published a proposed rule (RIN 1105-AB82; 28 CFR Part 77) granting the Attorney General authority to review any state, territorial, or D.C. bar disciplinary complaint against a current or former DOJ attorney for conduct in their federal duties, and to demand that the bar suspend its investigation pending that review. The rule states that if a bar refuses, "the Department shall take appropriate action to prevent the bar disciplinary authorities from interfering." It followed bar inquiries into DOJ lawyers such as Lindsey Halligan, whose prosecutions of James Comey and Letitia James were dismissed after a judge found her appointment unlawful.

Mar 4

ICE conducts targeted, warrantless arrest of Nashville journalist Estefany Rodríguez

On March 4, 2026, ICE agents carried out a targeted, warrantless arrest of Estefany Rodríguez, the lead immigration reporter for Nashville's Spanish-language outlet Nashville Noticias, one day after she published a widely viewed video showing the identifiable faces of agents conducting a Middle Tennessee operation. Officers were found to have a photo of her logo-marked car and repeatedly identified her in custody as "the journalist"; she was held in isolation, transferred out of state to Alabama and Louisiana, and kept from her attorney from March 4 to March 14 before her release on $10,000 bond on March 19. A federal court ordered ICE to justify the arrest, and government attorneys argued that First Amendment protections "may not even be applicable to an illegal alien."

Mar 3

ICE deported deaf 6-year-old and his family to Colombia during a routine check-in, without his hearing devices

On March 3, 2026, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in San Francisco told asylum seeker Lesly Rodriguez Gutierrez she was reporting for a routine check-in and photo renewal, then fingerprinted, detained, and deported her and her two children — including her six-year-old deaf son, Joseph — to Colombia within minutes, without allowing her to retrieve Joseph's hearing devices or granting her access to counsel. California's state superintendent and the family's attorney said the deportation was conducted under false pretenses and in violation of due process; ICE said the mother had a 2024 final removal order and chose to be removed with her children.

Mar 3

DHS systematically obstructed its inspector general; Noem sought list of OIG probes to weigh ending

In a March 2 letter released to Congress and first reported on March 3, 2026, DHS Inspector General Joseph Cuffari said the Department of Homeland Security had "systematically obstructed" his office's work, citing at least 10 oversight matters in which DHS denied or delayed access to records and revoked OIG access to critical databases including BorderStat, TECS, Secure Flight, and the Unified Immigration Portal. Cuffari also disclosed that Secretary Kristi Noem had requested a list of all pending OIG matters, including criminal investigations, so she could weigh whether any should be terminated. The disclosure prompted Sen. Gary Peters, ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, to open an investigation into potential obstruction of the inspector general's oversight and communications to Congress.

Mar 3

Oklahoma Gov. Stitt signed HJR1032, repealing the only rule letting transgender residents change the sex marker on state IDs

On March 3, 2026, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt approved House Joint Resolution 1032, which repealed the Service Oklahoma administrative rules that had allowed residents to change the sex marker on their driver's licenses and state identification cards. The prior rules required a court order and a notarized physician's statement; their repeal eliminates the only administrative pathway for transgender Oklahomans to correct the sex designation on state ID. Licenses already amended before the repeal remain valid, but no further changes will be processed.

Mar 2

Interior/NPS database flags hundreds of park signs on slavery, civil rights, climate for removal

An internal Department of the Interior and National Park Service database, authenticated by The Washington Post with current federal employees, flags several hundred signs, exhibits, films, and books across national park sites for removal or revision under President Trump's order to scrub "partisan ideology" and content that "disparages" Americans. Flagged materials include exhibits on slavery, the civil rights movement, Japanese-American internment, racial violence, and climate science — among them at least 30 signs at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park. Some materials had already been removed when the database was reported on March 2, 2026, while the department said final decisions on others had not been made.

Mar 2

ICE detainee Emmanuel Damas died from untreated tooth infection at CoreCivic Arizona facility

Emmanuel Damas, a 56-year-old Haitian asylum seeker from Boston, died on March 2, 2026, after a tooth infection went untreated for approximately a week at the CoreCivic-operated Central Arizona Florence Correctional Complex. Detainees reported he received only ibuprofen despite worsening symptoms. His family was barred from visiting him in intensive care for nine days, by which point he was shackled to a hospital bed and unable to speak. He was one of thirteen people who died in ICE custody in the first three months of 2026.

Mar 2

DOJ rescinds 2021 no-knock entry limits, broadening when agents can enter homes unannounced

On March 2, 2026, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche issued a Justice Department memo rescinding the 2021 policy that restricted federal agents' use of "no-knock" entries to situations where they feared imminent physical danger. Under the new memo, no-knock entries are also permissible whenever there is a risk that evidence could be destroyed — a condition former prosecutors warned can be asserted in nearly any search. The change was made by internal memo without public rulemaking and was reported on the eve of the sixth anniversary of Breonna Taylor's death in a botched no-knock raid.

No-knock raid misuse

Mar 2

Death of Haitian asylum seeker released from ICE custody ruled a homicide

The Allegheny County Medical Examiner's Office ruled the death of Daphy Michel, a 31-year-old Haitian asylum seeker, a homicide caused by hypothermia, after ICE released her in Pittsburgh on February 27, 2026 despite knowing she was a vulnerable adult with untreated severe mental illness and a language barrier. Michel was found on the ground at a bus shelter near Station Square on March 1 and died on March 2; the medical examiner announced the homicide ruling on June 12, 2026. ICE and DHS denied responsibility, while the family's attorney blamed ICE and said a lawsuit is planned.

Violence in immigration enforcement

Mar 2

Mohave County supervisors rejected 36 library books, bypassing formal review to target LGBTQ+ content

The Mohave County Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 on March 2, 2026 to reject a slate of already-cataloged donated library books, objected to by Supervisor Ron Gould primarily for LGBTQ+ content, by invoking the board's authority over donations rather than the library district's established formal reconsideration process. Library Director Jake Barillaro confirmed that process was not used; because the books were reclassified as rejected donations, 36 physical books across 20 titles were removed from county library collections, more than the 13 the public was told about at the meeting.

Mar 1

EPA illegally terminates $2.8B Environmental and Climate Justice Block Grant Program

The Environmental Protection Agency, under Administrator Lee Zeldin and acting on Trump executive orders issued January 20, 2025, terminated the Environmental and Climate Justice Block Grant Program — a $2.8 billion program established by the Inflation Reduction Act to fund pollution reduction and climate readiness in underserved communities — and directed grantees to close their projects. On June 12, 2026, U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel (D. South Carolina) ruled the termination "illegal" and voided the action, finding the EPA violated the Inflation Reduction Act. Gergel declined to issue a permanent injunction requiring reinstatement, noting that rehiring the fired program staff appeared "impractical," leaving hundreds of community projects in limbo.

Mar 1

Trump tells reporters no taxpayer money is spent on White House ballroom; federal agencies had already approved $300M

President Trump promised in 2025 that a new White House ballroom would be funded entirely by private donors, stating "no government to help us." However, costs escalated dramatically—from $200 million (July 2025) to $250 million, then $300 million, then $400 million, and finally $600 million or more by March 2026. Internal government documents reveal that by March 2026, when Trump publicly denied that "any taxpayer money" would be spent, over half the project's cost was already planned to be funded by federal agencies including the Secret Service, White House Military Office, and Executive Residence—totaling approximately $300 million in direct taxpayer subsidies. Trump's false public statements concealed this shift from private to public funding.

Ignoring statutory requirements