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Timeline

Every entry in the archive, ordered by event date. Page 33 of 41, showing April 24, 2025 to May 22, 2025. Pages contain 50 entries each; entries for a given date may continue on the next or previous page.

2025 Events (561)

May(46)

DHS Secretary Noem revoked Harvard's SEVP certification, threatening enrollment of ~6,000 international students

On May 22, 2025, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem summarily revoked Harvard University's Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) certification, the administrative authorization that allows universities to enroll international students on F-1, J-1, and M-1 visas. Citing alleged 'pro-terrorist conduct' and cooperation with the Chinese Communist Party — with no independent factual finding or adjudicatory process — the action threatened immediate displacement of more than 6,000 international students and scholars. Harvard filed for a Temporary Restraining Order the following day; District Judge Allison Burroughs granted the TRO, and a preliminary injunction issued June 20 extended the block pending full litigation.

DOJ filed motion to terminate Flores Settlement Agreement, eliminating court-ordered protections for immigrant children in custody

On May 22, 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a motion in federal court to terminate the Flores Settlement Agreement, a 1997 court settlement that has set minimum care standards and a 20-day detention cap for immigrant children in federal custody for nearly three decades. Attorney General Pam Bondi's DOJ argued termination was warranted by post-settlement regulations and a 2022 Supreme Court ruling. Judge Dolly Gee denied the motion in August 2025, finding the government remained in substantial noncompliance with the settlement's terms.

Alabama Gov. Ivey signed SB101, raising minors' medical consent age to 16 and requiring parental access to health records

On May 21, 2025, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed Senate Bill 101 (Act 2025-455), raising the age at which minors can independently consent to medical, dental, and mental-health treatment from 14 to 16, effective October 1, 2025. The law requires health care providers to grant parents access to a minor's medical records except by court order or when a parent is under criminal investigation involving the child, and requires written parental permission for minors under 16 to participate in school counseling. Adolescent-health advocates warned the change strips confidentiality that had let vulnerable minors, including LGBTQ+ youth, seek sensitive care without risking involuntary disclosure to parents.

ICE arrested Bronx high school student Dylan Lopez Contreras in Manhattan courthouse lobby after his scheduled immigration hearing

On May 21, 2025, ICE agents arrested 20-year-old Dylan Josue Lopez Contreras, a Venezuelan Bronx high school student, in the lobby of 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan after he appeared for a scheduled immigration hearing. During the hearing, government lawyers asked the judge to dismiss Dylan's case and immediately reopen it as an expedited removal — leaving him without legal protection and enabling the on-site arrest. Dylan, who had entered the country lawfully under a Biden-era humanitarian program and held a work permit, had no criminal record. He was subsequently detained at Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Pennsylvania for nearly ten months before being released on March 18, 2026.

Interior Secretary Burgum ordered National Park Service to review and remove public content deemed to disparage Americans

On May 20, 2025, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum issued Secretary's Order 3431, implementing President Trump's Executive Order 14253 and directing the National Park Service and other Interior land-management bureaus to review all public-facing interpretive content and remove anything that "inappropriately disparages Americans" or, for natural features, emphasizes matters unrelated to their beauty and grandeur. Under the order, the Park Service removed or flagged signs, exhibits, and materials on slavery, immigration, and climate change at sites nationwide, with an initial content-removal deadline of September 17, 2025. Interior also posted signage inviting visitors to report content they viewed as negative about past or living Americans.

FTC issued sweeping records demand to media-rating firm NewsGuard following chairman's public criticism

The Federal Trade Commission under Chairman Andrew Ferguson issued a 21-page, 31-item Civil Investigative Demand to NewsGuard, which publishes journalist-produced credibility ratings for news outlets, on May 20, 2025, seeking internal memos, methodology documents, subscriber lists, and communications dating back to the company's 2018 founding. The demand followed months of public criticism from Ferguson, who as an FTC commissioner in November 2024 accused NewsGuard of running "collusive ad boycotts" against conservative and independent media.

Laramie County Sheriff Kozak signed ICE 287(g) agreements without county commission approval or public notice

Laramie County Sheriff Brian Kozak signed three Section 287(g) agreements deputizing his office for federal immigration enforcement -- the first taking effect May 20, 2025, the other two about a month later -- without submitting the decision to the Laramie County Board of County Commissioners or following Wyoming's public rulemaking process. The sheriff's office went on to spend an estimated $75,000 on the resulting program between September 2025 and January 2026 without written commission authorization, and 287(g)-certified deputies later joined ICE and the Wyoming Highway Patrol in operations such as a December 22, 2025 stop-and-check campaign on Wyoming Highway 214. The ACLU of Wyoming and three local plaintiffs sued Kozak in May 2026, arguing he lacked authority to bind the county without the commissioners' approval.

Deputy AG Blanche directed DOJ to weaponize False Claims Act against federal grantees maintaining DEI and trans-inclusive policies

On May 19, 2025, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche issued a memorandum establishing the DOJ Civil Rights Fraud Initiative, directing attorneys across the Civil Division's Fraud Section and the Civil Rights Division to pursue False Claims Act cases against any federal grantee — including universities, hospitals, and state governments — that maintains DEI programs or transgender-inclusive policies while certifying compliance with federal civil rights laws. The initiative identifies diversity programs, single-sex bathroom policies, and women's sports participation standards as triggering FCA liability, and invites private whistleblower lawsuits seeking treble damages. It converts a procurement-fraud statute into an ideological enforcement mechanism against institutions dependent on federal funding.

Texas enacted SB 412, exposing teachers and librarians to prosecution by removing 'harmful material' defenses

On May 19, 2025, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 412, which stripped the affirmative-defense protections in the state Penal Code that had shielded public schools, libraries, and museums from prosecution for distributing material "harmful to minors" when that material carried educational, medical, scientific, or artistic value. By removing those defenses, the law exposes teachers, librarians, and parents to criminal charges over books available in public institutions. The measure took effect September 1, 2025, and civil-liberties and library groups warned it would drive broad removals of books, disproportionately affecting LGBTQ+ titles.

Trump administration pressured Secret Service to warrantlessly surveil Comey after 'seashells' post

On the night of May 15, 2025, President Trump and administration officials pressured U.S. Secret Service agents to warrantlessly access former FBI Director James Comey's phone location data after Comey posted an Instagram photo of seashells arranged to spell "86 47." Secret Service personnel warned internally that they lacked a warrant or a reasonable basis to believe Comey posed an imminent threat, but the agency issued an emergency request to Verizon and tracked Comey's phone as he drove from North Carolina toward Virginia. The pressure and warrantless tracking were disclosed in July 2026 through internal Secret Service records filed in Comey's separate federal criminal case.

United States and Eswatini signed MOU for third-country deportations

The United States and Eswatini signed a Memorandum of Understanding dated May 14, 2025, made available on the State Department website that June. Under it, at least 30 people have been forcibly sent to Eswatini across four flights between July 2025 and July 2026; a DHS spokesperson described the initial group as "depraved monsters" despite several having U.S.-granted humanitarian protections.

FBI Director Patel ordered 2,000 agents permanently shifted to immigration enforcement, gutting counterterrorism capacity

FBI Director Kash Patel directed field offices nationwide to permanently shift approximately 2,000 special agents — roughly 45% of agents in the 25 largest field offices — to full-time immigration enforcement operations during the week of May 12–14, 2025. The directive siphoned resources from counterterrorism, counterintelligence, organized crime, and fraud investigations; individual field offices lost half or more of their agents to immigration work, and the Justice Department simultaneously deprioritized white-collar and corporate crime investigation.

El Monte, California City Manager Alma Martinez arranged a $150,000 compensation raise for herself in a closed-door 2025 vote

El Monte, California City Manager Alma Martinez arranged a closed-door City Council vote on May 14, 2025 that raised her total compensation from about $280,000 to nearly $430,000, including a 25% base-salary increase, car and education allowances, lifetime medical benefits, back pay, and 18 months' severance. The raise came as the city faced a roughly $5 million budget deficit and most other employees received only 5% raises; Mayor Jessica Ancona publicly called the deal a "blank check." Whistleblower Ed Rardin, a city code enforcement officer, filed complaints with the Los Angeles County District Attorney, the FBI, and the state Fair Political Practices Commission alleging Martinez engineered the raise after rejecting an independent compensation study's findings.

Oklahoma Gov. Stitt signed SB796 banning state funds for DEI programs at public universities

On May 14, 2025, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt signed Senate Bill 796, barring the use of state funds for diversity, equity, and inclusion positions, offices, and programs at the state's public colleges and universities. The law also prohibits institutions from requiring diversity statements in admissions or hiring, from mandating the disclosure of a person's pronouns, and from requiring DEI-related training. It took effect July 1, 2025, with a compliance deadline of July 1, 2026.

ICE and GEO Group denied diabetic detainee Elton Purvis insulin and care, causing repeated hospitalizations at Pearsall facility

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and GEO Group, which operates the South Texas ICE Processing Center in Pearsall, Texas, confiscated detainee Elton Purvis's insulin and malaria medication and denied him food meeting his diabetic and religious dietary needs during his May-to-December 2025 detention. Purvis, a 55-year-old legal permanent resident and Type 1 diabetic, was found unresponsive and hospitalized for dangerously abnormal blood sugar at least three times — the first on June 2, 2025 — after guards repeatedly ignored his pleas for help and his more than 100 grievances to ICE went unanswered.

Interagency task force terminated additional ~$450M in Harvard research grants after president publicly defied administration demands

On May 13, 2025, the interagency Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism announced the termination of approximately $450 million in additional federal research grants to Harvard University — on top of the $2.2 billion already frozen since April 14, 2025. The escalation came one week after Harvard President Alan Garber publicly stated the university would not comply with the administration's demands to alter governance, admissions, hiring, and student conduct policies. The task force declared Harvard had "forfeited the school's claim to taxpayer support." A federal court later ruled the entire Harvard funding campaign constituted unlawful retaliation for First Amendment-protected speech.

Montana Gov. Gianforte signed HB819, banning Pride flags from schools and government buildings

On May 13, 2025, Montana Governor Greg Gianforte signed House Bill 819, restricting the flags that may be displayed in K-12 schools and on state and local government buildings to the U.S. flag, Montana's state flag, other official government flags, and school mascot flags — explicitly excluding Pride flags and other nongovernmental banners. Sponsored by Rep. Braxton Mitchell, the bill passed the Montana House 57-42 and the Senate 32-18.

Montana Gov. Gianforte signed HB682 imposing liability on gender-affirming care providers and framing the care as fraudulent

On May 13, 2025, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte signed House Bill 682, sponsored by Rep. Greg Kmetz, which imposes heightened civil liability on medical providers who deliver gender-affirming care and characterizes that care as harmful and fraudulent. The law revises Montana statute governing gender transition treatment and follows the state's 2023 ban on such care for minors (SB99) and a related 2025 liability measure, Senate Bill 218.

Montana Gov. Gianforte signed HB690 excluding non-affirmation of a child's gender identity from child abuse and neglect definitions

On May 13, 2025, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte signed House Bill 690, sponsored by Rep. Bill Mercer, which revises the state's child abuse and neglect statutes to exclude "referring to or raising a child in a manner consistent with the child's biological sex, including in the making of related mental health or medical decisions" from the legal definitions of abuse, neglect, and physical or psychological harm. The law passed the Montana House 57-42 and the Senate 34-16 before reaching the governor's desk.

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt signed SB418 mandating birth-sex segregation of prison facilities and barring transgender inmates from opposite-sex housing

On May 13, 2025, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt signed Senate Bill 418, requiring the Department of Corrections and its contracted facilities to designate every multi-occupancy restroom, changing room, and sleeping quarter for the exclusive use of either males or females and barring incarcerated people from facilities designated for the opposite sex, with narrow exceptions for staff, medical, law-enforcement, and emergency access. The law creates a private cause of action, with attorney fees, for individuals who encounter an opposite-sex person in a designated facility. It took effect November 1, 2025.

Oklahoma Gov. Stitt signed SB658 barring denial of foster or adoptive applicants over beliefs about sexual orientation and gender identity

On May 13, 2025, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt signed Senate Bill 658, which bars the Oklahoma Department of Human Services from denying a prospective foster or adoptive parent on the basis of the applicant's religious or moral beliefs about sexual orientation and gender identity, and prohibits DHS from requiring applicants to affirm state positions on those subjects as a condition of approval. The measure, sponsored by Sen. Julie Daniels, took effect November 1, 2025. Advocates for LGBTQ youth warned that it legitimizes belief-based refusal to support affirming placements within the state child-welfare system.

ICE Acting Director Lyons issued classified memo authorizing warrantless home entry for immigration arrests

ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons issued an internal memo on May 12, 2025, directing agents to forcibly enter private homes using administrative warrants signed by ICE supervisors rather than judges, departing from longstanding Fourth Amendment practice and prior DHS policy requiring judicial warrants for home entry. The memo was classified for restricted internal distribution—agents were required to return it and take no notes—and was reportedly used to train new ICE agents. Whistleblowers disclosed the memo to Senator Blumenthal in January 2026; NBC News published the full account.

United States and South Sudan agreed to single deportation flight via diplomatic notes

The United States and South Sudan reached the only written agreement made public to date via an exchange of diplomatic notes from early May 2025, covering a single flight of third-country nationals. Eight men were deported under it in July 2025 in violation of a standing federal court injunction requiring meaningful notice and a chance to raise fear-based claims; the agreement was not disclosed until January 2026, and the men were held in a guarded compound lacking reliable electricity.

NSF eliminated Division of Equity for Excellence in STEM, fired all 65 staff in reduction-in-force

On May 9, 2025, NSF Chief Management Officer Micah Cheatham circulated an internal memo announcing the full elimination of NSF's Division of Equity for Excellence in STEM by July 12 via a reduction-in-force, firing all 65 permanent EES staff. Simultaneously, 84 of NSF's 143 Senior Executive Service positions were eliminated and the temporary workforce was cut from 368 to 70, reducing NSF's workforce by roughly 37 percent. The division housed congressionally mandated programs serving underrepresented minorities and disabled students in STEM.

Tennessee Gov. Lee signed SB0937, barring public schools from requiring anyone to provide their preferred pronouns

On May 9, 2025, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed SB0937 into law as Public Chapter 453 of the 114th General Assembly. The act prohibits any public school, local education agency, teacher, employee, or contractor from requiring a student, teacher, employee, or contractor to provide the individual's preferred pronouns. Framed as a freedom-of-speech measure, it removes any school mandate around the use or disclosure of preferred pronouns and is the originating statute in Tennessee's series of pronoun-refusal laws.

Georgia Gov. Kemp signed SB185, barring state-funded gender dysphoria treatment for transgender people in state prisons

On May 8, 2025, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed Senate Bill 185 into law, barring the use of state funds or resources to provide gender dysphoria treatment - including hormone therapy and gender-affirming surgery - to people in Georgia state custody. The law singled out incarcerated transgender people for the denial of medically recognized care that many had already been receiving.

State Department pressed tariff-threatened nations to approve Musk's Starlink, cables showed

Internal U.S. embassy and State Department cables obtained by The Washington Post and reported on May 7, 2025, showed officials repeatedly pressing foreign governments facing Trump administration tariff threats to approve regulatory access for Starlink, the satellite company owned by White House adviser Elon Musk. Lesotho received a 10-year Starlink license two weeks after Trump announced 50% tariffs, and India, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Somalia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo saw similar fast-tracked approvals. Eleven U.S. senators subsequently requested a federal ethics investigation into the arrangement.

White House used unvetted TeleMessage Signal clone for records after Signalgate; May 2025 hack exposed CBP staff data

After the original Signalgate incident exposed deleted official Signal messages in violation of federal records law, senior officials including then-National Security Advisor Mike Waltz adopted TM SGNL, a modified Signal clone from Israeli company TeleMessage, without National Archives review. On May 4-5, 2025, hackers exploited a flaw that routed messages to the vendor's server as plain text, exposing U.S. Customs and Border Protection staff communications and stealing a large cache of files, prompting TeleMessage to suspend service.

Education Secretary McMahon barred Harvard from new federal grants, demanding governance overhaul and DEI compliance

On May 5, 2025, Education Secretary Linda McMahon sent Harvard President Alan Garber a letter formally announcing that the university would receive no new federal grants until it demonstrated "responsible management" and met the Trump administration's demands for governance restructuring, admissions changes, and anti-DEI compliance. The action was a prospective escalation beyond the earlier April 14 freeze of existing Harvard grants, imposing a forward-looking embargo on all new grant funding. Harvard characterized the move as retaliation for its lawsuit challenging the April freeze and called the demands an attempt to impose "unprecedented and improper control."

Trump signed EO 14290 directing CPB to cease all federal funding to NPR and PBS

President Trump signed Executive Order 14290 on May 1, 2025, directing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to stop all direct and indirect federal funding to National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service, citing what the order called their "biased and partisan news coverage." The order also required every federal agency to terminate existing contracts and grants with NPR and PBS, and ordered CPB to revise its 2025 grant criteria by June 30, 2025 to bar grantees from channeling funds to either organization. CPB, NPR, and PBS each stated the order was unlawful; CPB's board declined to comply.

Indiana Gov. Braun signed HB1412, shielding parents' non-affirmation of transgender children from child-neglect review

On May 1, 2025, Indiana Governor Mike Braun signed House Bill 1412 into law as Public Law 168, revising the state's child-abuse-and-neglect reporting statutes. The law specifies that a child is not a "child in need of services" solely because a parent, guardian, or custodian refers to and raises the child consistent with the child's biological sex. The provision shields a parent's non-affirmation of a transgender child's gender identity from being treated as neglect by the Indiana Department of Child Services.

Montana Gov. Gianforte signed HB471, requiring parental opt-in before LGBTQ-related school instruction

On May 1, 2025, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte signed HB471, which creates an "identity instruction" category covering lessons on gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation and bars students from participating without prior written parental consent, revocable at any time. The law requires schools to give 5-14 school days' advance notice before such instruction, publish annual notice of covered courses, and make curriculum materials available for public inspection, while barring use of instructional materials from abortion service providers. It took effect July 1, 2025 and is being challenged in state court by the Montana School Counselors Association and the ACLU of Montana.

Montana Gov. Gianforte signed HB400 'Free to Speak Act' shielding refusal to use transgender students' pronouns from discipline

On May 1, 2025, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte signed House Bill 400, the "Free to Speak Act," which bars public schools and state agencies from disciplining students, teachers, or state employees who refuse to use a person's preferred name, pronouns, or gender identity that does not match their sex assigned at birth. Sponsored by Rep. Braxton Mitchell, the law passed the Senate 28-20, with three Republicans joining all Democrats in opposition, and creates a private right of action for people punished for refusing to use another person's preferred name or pronouns. Opponents, including tribal representatives, school administrators, and LGBTQ+ advocacy groups, said the measure legitimizes harassment of transgender students.

Montana Gov. Gianforte signed HB655, letting foster and adoption agencies opt out of LGBTQ+-inclusive training on religious grounds

On May 1, 2025, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte signed HB655 into law, prohibiting state agencies and foster or adoptive-placement entities from taking discriminatory action against foster and adoptive parents who decline, on religious grounds, to affirm LGBTQ+-inclusive training, policies, or a child's gender identity or sexual orientation. The bill passed the Montana House 59-40 and Senate 29-19 before Gianforte signed it into law.

Montana Gov. Gianforte signed HB638, banning diversity statements referencing sexual orientation and gender identity in state hiring

On May 1, 2025, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte signed HB638, "Revise human rights laws," which bars state and local government agencies from requiring, requesting, or soliciting a "diversity statement" from job applicants or employees and prohibits granting preferential consideration based on one. The law defines a diversity statement as any submission promoting differential treatment based on race, color, ethnicity, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, or gender identity, and permits agencies to accept such statements only to the minimum extent federal law requires. Sponsored by Rep. Randyn Gregg, the bill leaves existing anti-discrimination and anti-harassment compliance policies in place.

North Dakota Gov. Armstrong signed HB1144 restricting transgender students' bathroom access and requiring schools to out them to parents

On May 1, 2025, North Dakota Gov. Kelly Armstrong signed House Bill 1144, barring K-12 public schools from maintaining all-gender multi-stall restrooms or shower rooms and requiring such facilities be designated for one sex only. The law also requires school staff to notify a student's parents if they learn the student is transgender, with violations enforceable by the state Attorney General through fines up to $2,500.

April(47)

West Virginia Gov. Morrisey signed SB154 restricting school LGBTQ instruction and requiring staff to disclose students' gender identity to parents

On April 30, 2025, West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey signed Senate Bill 154 into law, prohibiting public schools from providing instruction related to sexual orientation or gender identity and requiring school employees to report any student's request for recognition of a gender identity differing from their birth-certificate sex to administrators, who must then notify the student's parent or guardian. The law, codified at W.Va. Code 18-5-29, took effect July 11, 2025 and empowers the state Attorney General to enforce it, with violating school personnel subject to discipline or dismissal.

West Virginia Gov. Morrisey signed SB299, closing the suicide-risk exception in the state's ban on gender-affirming care for minors

On April 30, 2025, West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey signed Senate Bill 299, which amends the state's 2023 ban on gender-affirming care for minors by removing its narrow exception permitting hormone therapy and puberty blockers for transgender minors at documented risk of self-harm. The law imposes a near-total ban on such treatment for minors, with carve-outs only for intersex conditions or patients already receiving care, and takes effect July 11, 2025.

West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey signed SB474, ending DEI programs statewide and shielding school staff who refuse transgender students' pronouns

On April 30, 2025, West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey signed Senate Bill 474 into law, eliminating diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, offices, trainings, and personnel across the state's executive branch, K-12 schools, and public colleges. The act also bars county boards and public charter schools from requiring teachers to use a transgender student's preferred pronoun when it differs from the student's sex at birth, and shields employees who refuse from civil liability or adverse employment action. The state Senate had passed the measure 32-2.

ICE and LaSalle Corrections denied pregnant detainee prenatal care at Louisiana facility; she delivered a stillborn baby

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and its contractor, LaSalle Corrections, denied Iris Dayana Monterroso Lemus, a pregnant Guatemalan detainee, adequate prenatal care during her detention at Richwood Correctional Center in Richwood, Louisiana, and she delivered a stillborn baby on April 29, 2025, after days of unaddressed complaints that she had stopped feeling fetal movement. Federal records later obtained by The Intercept through a Freedom of Information Act request showed no completed ultrasound or OB-GYN visit, contradicting a later DHS public denial that she lacked care.

Trump signed EO 14287, creating 'sanctuary jurisdiction' list and ordering agencies to identify federal grants for withholding

On April 28, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14287, "Protecting American Communities from Criminal Aliens," formally establishing a government-wide sanctuary jurisdiction designation-and-punishment mechanism. The order directed the Attorney General and DHS Secretary to publish a list of states and localities that obstruct federal immigration enforcement and instructed all federal department heads to identify grants and contracts flowing to listed jurisdictions "for suspension or termination." A federal court blocked the funding-withholding component within 11 days, ruling it could not be used as "an end run around" an existing preliminary injunction against earlier Trump sanctuary-city directives.

Trump signed EO 14288 directing DOJ to rescind police-reform consent decrees and threaten prosecution of local officials for DEI policing

On April 28, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14288, directing the Attorney General to review and rescind DOJ Civil Rights Division consent decrees with local police departments and to pursue prosecution of local officials whose DEI-based policing policies the administration deems unlawful. The EO also directed the Department of Defense to identify how military assets and personnel could be used for domestic crime prevention. Implementation was immediate: the Civil Rights Division dismissed pending consent decrees in Minneapolis and Louisville, retracted violation findings in six other cities, and approximately 70 percent of Civil Rights Division staff were expected to resign or be removed.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed the Riley Gaines Act, barring transgender athletes and ending gender-identity recognition in sex-segregated spaces

On April 28, 2025, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed Senate Bill 1, the "Riley Gaines Act of 2025," into law. The act bars transgender girls and women from participating on female sports teams from K-12 through college, requires restroom, locker-room, and sleeping facilities at athletic events to be separated by birth-assigned sex, and defines "sex" in state law by birth-assigned sex. The measures end state recognition of transgender residents' gender identity in the covered contexts and create a private right of action against schools that do not comply.

DOJ criminally charged sitting Milwaukee judge Hannah Dugan with obstructing ICE arrest in her courtroom

The Justice Department on April 25, 2025 filed federal criminal charges against sitting Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan, accusing her of obstructing ICE agents who sought to arrest a defendant, Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, following his hearing in her courtroom. Dugan was later convicted by a federal jury and, on July 8, 2026, sentenced to a $5,000 fine with no prison time.

USDA withdrew Salmonella poultry rule after top inauguration donor's trade group lobbied against it

USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service formally withdrew its proposed "Salmonella Framework for Raw Poultry Products" rule on April 25, 2025, days after the National Chicken Council publicly opposed it and after reporting revealed that member company Pilgrim's Pride had made a $5 million donation to the Trump-Vance inaugural committee, the single largest inauguration donation. The rule would have set the first enforceable Salmonella contamination limits in raw chicken and turkey and given FSIS authority to stop sale of contaminated poultry.

Trump signed EO 14284 requiring political appointees to certify retention of all probationary federal employees

On April 24, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14284 requiring political appointees to affirmatively certify the retention of all probationary and trial-period federal employees before they receive career tenure. Under the prior framework established by the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, new career employees automatically received tenure upon completing their probationary period without adverse action. The order made automatic separation the default in the absence of political-appointee certification, inserting a political approval gate over tenure for all competitive and excepted service employees across the executive branch.

Trump directed AG Bondi to investigate ActBlue while applying no scrutiny to Republican equivalent WinRed

On April 24, 2025, President Trump signed a Presidential Memorandum directing Attorney General Pamela Bondi, in consultation with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, to investigate alleged straw-donor and foreign-contribution violations at ActBlue, the dominant Democratic online fundraising platform. The directive cited a partisan House Republican investigation that examined only ActBlue and not WinRed, the structurally identical Republican equivalent. Democratic party leaders called the memo "designed to undermine democratic participation."

Indiana Gov. Braun signed SB143, barring schools from withholding student information from parents and enabling forced outing of LGBTQ students

On April 24, 2025, Indiana Governor Mike Braun signed Senate Bill 143, the "Parental rights" law, taking effect July 1, 2025. The law bars government entities — including public schools and the Department of Child Services — from advising, directing, or coercing a child to withhold information from a parent, or from denying a parent access to information about their child, absent a compelling interest. The ACLU of Indiana warned the measure can compel the forced outing of transgender and gender-nonconforming students to their parents.

Oak Ridge, Tenn. police officer misused Flock cameras and law enforcement databases for personal use, fired

Oak Ridge, Tennessee Police Department officer Zachary Gauthier was fired on April 24, 2025, after an internal investigation found he had used his mobile data terminal and the department's Accurint, State Link System, and Flock Safety license-plate-reader access for personal, non-law-enforcement purposes in March and early April 2025. An Anderson County grand jury later indicted Gauthier on 23 counts of official misconduct, and he pleaded guilty to all 23 counts and was sentenced to a term including 48 hours of incarceration and supervised probation.