513 events on record Subscribe June 29, 2026
Standing Record home The Standing Record A non-partisan record of US democratic norms —
and the events that erode them.

Timeline

Every entry in the archive, ordered by event date. Page 9 of 11, showing May 30, 2025 to September 5, 2025. Pages contain 50 entries each; entries for a given date may continue on the next or previous page.

2025

September

Trump signed EO 14347 directing Pentagon to adopt 'Department of War' name; DoD website rebranded to war.gov

President Trump signed Executive Order 14347 on September 5, 2025, directing the Department of Defense to use the title "Department of War" in all non-statutory communications, correspondence, and ceremonies. The DoD website was immediately rebranded to war.gov. Implementation was estimated to cost approximately $2 billion, covering new signage and letterhead across the defense establishment — all without congressional authorization to rename the department as required by the National Security Act of 1947.

Trump announced 2026 G20 summit at his Doral resort, directing foreign-government spending to his own property

President Trump announced on September 5, 2025, that the United States would host the 2026 G20 summit at his Trump National Doral Miami resort in Doral, Florida. The White House claimed the venue would host the event "at-cost" with no profit to Trump, but even at-cost hosting generates substantial indirect value — global media exposure, advance security expenditures, and ancillary bookings — for a property Trump personally owns. Trump abandoned an identical proposal to host the G7 at Doral in 2019 following bipartisan congressional criticism; he is now proceeding without seeking congressional consent as required by the Foreign Emoluments Clause.

DHS final rule granted USCIS arrest authority and deadly force, transforming civilian benefits agency into armed law enforcement arm

On September 4, 2025, the Department of Homeland Security published a final rule giving U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services sweeping new law enforcement powers, including the authority to carry firearms, use deadly force, make arrests, and execute warrants. USCIS will employ 1811-classified special agents — the same designation as FBI and DEA agents — despite being created by Congress exclusively as a civilian benefits-processing agency. The rule takes effect 30 days from publication, creating parallel enforcement infrastructure alongside ICE and CBP without congressional authorization.

DHS Secretary Noem terminated 2021 TPS designation for Venezuela, stripping deportation protection from ~250,000 Venezuelans

On September 3, 2025, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem terminated the 2021 Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designation for Venezuela, affecting approximately 250,000 Venezuelans enrolled under the Biden-era grant. Noem cited "national interest" and determined Venezuela no longer met TPS statutory requirements, setting an effective end date of November 7, 2025. A federal court blocked the termination within three days on September 6, 2025, finding the administration likely lacked statutory authority under the Immigration and Nationality Act.

DHS opened 'Camp 57' ICE detention unit inside Angola prison's former solitary-confinement wing for civil immigration detainees

On September 3, 2025, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the opening of "Camp 57," an ICE detention facility inside Louisiana State Penitentiary (Angola), occupying the facility's former Camp J solitary-confinement wing — a section shuttered approximately seven years earlier after cell locks malfunctioned, dozens of weapons were found, and more than 80 staff resigned or were fired for misconduct. The facility opened with 51 civil immigration detainees and a stated capacity of 416; courts later ordered four detainees released citing conditions.

JTF Southern Spear killed 11 aboard suspected narcotics vessel in southern Caribbean; 1st strike, ~11 campaign deaths

On September 2, 2025, U.S. military forces conducting Operation Southern Spear struck a vessel in the southern Caribbean, killing eleven people the Trump administration labeled Tren de Aragua narcoterrorists. President Trump announced the action on Truth Social and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth posted video of the explosion, but neither provided public evidence identifying those aboard as drug traffickers or gang members. The strike was conducted without congressional authorization or judicial process and was the first publicly acknowledged U.S. military airstrike in the Americas since the 1989 Panama invasion.

August

Trump signed EO 14343 stripping collective bargaining from NASA, National Weather Service and Patent Office workers

President Trump signed Executive Order 14343 on August 28, 2025, extending his earlier March 2025 order to remove collective bargaining rights from employees at NASA, the National Weather Service, the Patent and Trademark Office, and several other agencies under a "national security" rationale. The order targeted agencies with no primary national security mission, and union leaders said it was explicit retaliation against organizations — including IFPTE and NWSEO — that had filed lawsuits challenging Trump's March executive order.

Trump directed DOJ to investigate federal grantees for lobbying and partisan activity, targeting advocacy organizations

President Trump signed a presidential memorandum on August 28, 2025, directing the Attorney General to investigate whether federal grant funds are being used for lobbying or partisan political activity, with a report due in 180 days. The memo, titled "Use of Appropriated Funds for Illegal Lobbying and Partisan Political Activity by Federal Grantees," cited the Byrd Amendment but framed the investigation scope to include political and advocacy activity broader than what the statute covers. Legal observers noted the memo's "partisan political activity" language creates a chilling effect on civil society organizations that receive federal funding while engaging in policy advocacy.

Pentagon authorized up to 600 military JAG lawyers to serve as temporary immigration judges

On August 27, 2025, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth signed a memo authorizing the Department of Defense to detail up to 600 Judge Advocate General lawyers to serve as temporary immigration judges under the Justice Department's Executive Office for Immigration Review on assignments of up to 179 days. The authorization followed the DOJ's removal of the prior-immigration-experience requirement for temporary judges. Military JAGs would receive approximately two weeks of training before serving; the first cohort of five was sworn in on May 20, 2026, in the largest investiture class in EOIR history.

Trump fired Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, citing FHFA director's pretextual mortgage fraud allegation

President Trump removed Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook on August 25, 2025, posting a termination letter to Truth Social citing his Article II authority and a "criminal referral" by Federal Housing Finance Agency Director William Pulte alleging Cook committed mortgage fraud before joining the Fed. The Federal Reserve Act permits removal of Board governors only "for cause," a provision designed to protect the central bank's independence from short-term political pressure. A federal court subsequently found Cook had made a strong showing that the removal violated the statute's cause requirement.

Trump signed EO 14341 directing AG to prosecute flag burning despite Supreme Court rulings protecting it as free speech

President Trump signed Executive Order 14341 on August 25, 2025, directing the Attorney General to prioritize prosecution of flag burning under any available criminal or civil law, despite Supreme Court rulings in Texas v. Johnson (1989) and United States v. Eichman (1990) holding that flag desecration is constitutionally protected political speech. The order explicitly acknowledges the Supreme Court precedent but instructs the AG to pursue prosecution using content-neutral laws as a workaround and to litigate to narrow First Amendment protections. The order also directs immigration officials to deny or revoke visas and naturalization for foreign nationals who burn the American flag.

HHS de-recognized union contracts at CDC, FDA, and other agencies, stripping collective bargaining rights

The Department of Health and Human Services moved on August 22, 2025, to de-recognize all collective bargaining agreements covering workers at the CDC, FDA, and other HHS divisions, stripping thousands of federal public health employees of union rights. The action implemented a Trump labor-management executive order, making HHS the latest agency in a rolling campaign that had already reached the VA on August 6 and the EPA on August 8. The American Federation of Government Employees condemned the action as an illegal decertification of unions.

FBI searched home and office of former national security adviser Bolton; Trump privately directed investigation toward vocal critic

On August 22, 2025, FBI agents searched the Maryland home and Washington office of former national security adviser John Bolton as part of a classified-information investigation. Bolton, a vocal Trump critic since leaving the administration in 2019, was not detained and no charges were filed at the time. The Washington Post reported that Trump had privately pointed a finger at Bolton in the days immediately preceding the raids, while the Biden-era Justice Department had reviewed the same underlying materials and declined to prosecute.

Rubio halted all new worker visas for commercial truck drivers via social media post, citing undocumented driver accident

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on August 21, 2025, via a post on X that the State Department was immediately pausing all new worker visa issuances for commercial truck drivers across all nationalities and visa categories, including H-2B, E-2, and EB-3. Rubio cited the August 12 fatal crash on Florida's Turnpike, in which the driver accused of causing three deaths was identified as undocumented — not a visa holder — as justification for suspending the legal immigration pathway. The pause was announced with no advance notice, no rulemaking, and no defined end date, affecting an industry already experiencing a significant labor shortage.

USCIS added undefined 'anti-Americanism' as disqualifying factor in all immigration benefit adjudications

On August 19, 2025, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services updated its Policy Manual via Policy Alert PA-2025-16, designating "anti-Americanism" and "antisemitic activity" as "overwhelmingly negative" discretionary factors in every category of immigration benefit adjudication — green cards, work visas, naturalization, and humanitarian protections. The term "anti-Americanism" was left undefined in the update, the Immigration and Nationality Act, and any accompanying officer guidance, granting adjudicators unbounded discretion to deny immigration benefits based on applicants' perceived political speech, beliefs, or associations.

AG Bondi installed DEA administrator as DC 'emergency police commissioner' with authority over MPD chief; administration retreated after lawsuit

On August 14, 2025, Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a directive naming DEA Administrator Terry Cole as Washington D.C.'s "emergency police commissioner," ordering that the Metropolitan Police Department must receive Cole's approval before issuing any operational orders—effectively placing a federal official with no local jurisdiction above the elected city government's police chief. The DC Attorney General filed suit, and within 24 hours the Trump administration backed down, revising Cole's role to Bondi's "designee" and restoring the MPD chief's operational authority. No statute authorizes the U.S. Attorney General to appoint a police commissioner for the District of Columbia.

Trump signed EO 14333 federalizing DC Metropolitan Police under Home Rule Act; deploys 800 National Guard to city at 30-year crime low

On August 11, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14333, invoking Section 740 of the D.C. Home Rule Act for the first time in the law's nearly 50-year history to transfer operational control of the Metropolitan Police Department from the elected D.C. government to federal authority. Simultaneously, Trump deployed 800 D.C. National Guard troops and redirected FBI, DEA, ATF, ICE, and HSI agents to patrol under U.S. Park Police authority, despite D.C. recording its lowest crime levels in 30 years.

AG Bondi opened DOJ investigations into Sen. Adam Schiff and NY AG Letitia James, appointing Trump ally Ed Martin as special attorney for both probes

On August 8, 2025, Attorney General Pamela Bondi formally opened Department of Justice investigations into Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and New York Attorney General Letitia James — both prominent Trump critics — appointing conservative activist and former interim D.C. U.S. Attorney Ed Martin as special attorney to lead both probes. The referrals came exclusively from FHFA Director Bill Pulte, a Trump loyalist with no prosecutorial background, who alleged mortgage fraud by each official. Prosecutors subsequently found insufficient evidence to bring charges and the Schiff probe stalled.

Trump signed EO 14332, placing political appointees as sole gatekeepers over all federal discretionary grants

On August 7, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14332, requiring all federal agencies to appoint senior political appointees as sole gatekeepers with approval authority over every new discretionary grant announcement, reducing peer review panels to advisory status. The order prohibits federal funding for programs using racial preferences, rejecting binary sex classifications, supporting immigration assistance, or promoting undefined "anti-American values." A "termination for convenience" provision permits agencies to retroactively cancel any existing grant that no longer aligns with "agency priorities."

VA Secretary Collins terminated collective bargaining for 80% of VA's 400,000-person workforce

On August 6, 2025, VA Secretary Doug Collins terminated the Department of Veterans Affairs' collective bargaining agreements with most of its federal unions — including AFGE, NAGE, NFFE, NNOC/NNU, and SEIU — stripping roughly 80% of the agency's 400,000-person workforce of collectively bargained workplace protections. The VA acted under a Trump executive order declaring union contracts a national security threat, and did so while appearing to disregard OPM's own guidance on implementation.

Trump fired BLS Commissioner McEntarfer hours after weak jobs report, accusing her without evidence of rigging data

On August 1, 2025, President Trump fired Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Erika McEntarfer via Truth Social hours after BLS released a jobs report showing only 73,000 nonfarm jobs added in July, below market expectations. Trump publicly accused McEntarfer of manipulating the data "to make the Republicans, and ME, look bad," despite the fact that commissioners do not produce employment estimates and McEntarfer did not see the report until shortly before its public release. McEntarfer had been confirmed 86-0 by the Senate, including then-Senator JD Vance, and was serving a statutory four-year term.

July

AG Bondi filed judicial misconduct complaint against Chief Judge Boasberg, seeking removal from deportation cases

Attorney General Pam Bondi directed the Department of Justice to file a formal judicial misconduct complaint against Chief Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on July 29, 2025, alleging he made "improper" remarks at a closed judicial conference where he reportedly expressed concern the Trump administration would defy court orders and trigger a "constitutional crisis." The complaint, filed with D.C. Circuit Chief Judge Sri Srinivasan, explicitly requested Boasberg's reassignment from deportation cases and a special-committee investigation. Boasberg had presided over multiple rulings blocking Trump administration deportation flights prior to the complaint.

AG Pamela Bondi issued guidance classifying DEI programs as unlawful discrimination, threatening federal grant revocation

On July 29, 2025, Attorney General Pamela Bondi issued a formal DOJ guidance memorandum directing all recipients of federal funds — including universities, hospitals, and state governments — to treat diversity, equity, and inclusion programs as potentially unlawful under federal antidiscrimination statutes. The guidance defined prohibited practices including race-based scholarships, DEI training programs, and mentorship programs limited to specific groups, with violations subject to grant revocation and False Claims Act liability. The DOJ simultaneously activated its Civil Rights Fraud Initiative to prosecute non-compliant funding recipients.

Trump signed EO 14321 directing DOJ to dismantle ADA Olmstead protections and expand forced civil commitment of homeless people with disabilities

On July 24, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14321, directing the Attorney General to seek reversal of federal and state judicial precedents — including Olmstead v. L.C. (1999) consent decrees — and expand civil commitment of homeless people with mental illness or substance use disorders. The order terminates federal support for housing-first programs and conditions discretionary grants on states enforcing bans on urban camping, loitering, and squatting.

Rubio opened State Department investigation into Harvard's J-1 visa program with no stated misconduct

Secretary of State Marco Rubio sent a letter to Harvard President Alan Garber on July 23, 2025, opening a formal State Department investigation into Harvard's participation in the Exchange Visitor Program, which sponsors J-1 visas for international researchers, instructors, and students. The letter alleged no specific misconduct, stating only that programs must not run "contrary to our nation's interests," and gave Harvard one week to produce a broad set of records. Harvard called the probe retaliatory and a violation of its First Amendment rights.

EPA eliminated Office of Research and Development, laid off up to 1,155 scientists in 23% workforce cut

On July 18, 2025, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced the elimination of the agency's Office of Research and Development — the scientific foundation underlying every federal air, water, and chemical safety standard for 55 years — and a reduction of more than 3,700 total EPA positions (nearly 23%). As many as 1,155 chemists, biologists, and toxicologists received reduction-in-force notices. The administration said it would replace ORD with an "Office of Applied Science and Environmental Solutions" subordinated to deregulatory program offices.

CMS secretly gave ICE access to personal data of all 79 million Medicaid enrollees for immigration enforcement

On July 18, 2025, CNN reported that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had established a secret Information Exchange Agreement giving ICE access to names, addresses, birthdates, Social Security numbers, and racial and ethnic information for all 79 million Medicaid enrollees to identify and locate immigrants for enforcement. The agreement was not made public and was disclosed only after AP obtained it. A coalition of 22 states later filed suit and a federal court issued a preliminary injunction blocking the data sharing in August 2025.

Trump signed EO 14317 creating unlimited Schedule G political appointee class, bypassing Senate confirmation and SES caps

President Trump signed Executive Order 14317 on July 17, 2025, creating Schedule G in the Excepted Service — a new, numerically unlimited class of non-career political appointees who fill "policy-making or policy-advocating" roles without Senate confirmation. Unlike the Senior Executive Service, whose political appointments are capped at 10 percent by statute, Schedule G positions do not count against that limit, allowing the administration to install an unrestricted number of Trump loyalists in senior agency positions. The White House described the order as providing "horsepower for agency implementation of administration policy" and as a tool to "dismantle the deep state."

Trump exempts 180+ facilities from Clean Air Act air-toxics rules via an EPA email inbox

Across 2025, President Trump signed seven proclamations invoking Clean Air Act Section 112(i)(4) — a provision unused in the statute's 55-year history — to grant more than 180 industrial facilities in 38 states and Puerto Rico a two-year exemption from federal hazardous-air-pollutant standards. A May 2026 ProPublica investigation found that facilities qualified by emailing an EPA-run inbox, with no rigorous application and no meaningful role for the agency's air-quality experts. The statute permits such exemptions only where compliance technology is "not available" and the exemption is "in the national security interests of the United States."

Five federal agencies simultaneously stripped immigrant access to life-safety benefit programs, revoking 24 years of DOJ guidance

On July 10-11, 2025, five federal departments — Justice, Health and Human Services, Education, Agriculture, and Labor — simultaneously issued notices rescinding decades-old guidance that had protected immigrant access to federal benefit programs under the "necessary to protect life or safety" exception in the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act. The DOJ withdrew its 2001 Attorney General interpretation identifying which programs qualified, effective August 15, 2025; HHS rescinded a 1998 policy keeping Head Start, community health clinics, and Title X accessible; the Department of Education revoked its 1997 guidance covering adult education and postsecondary programs. Multiple states sued immediately.

CBP directed airlines to drop X gender markers from pre-departure passenger data, barring non-binary designation for international travelers

On July 7, 2025, U.S. Customs and Border Protection issued a Carrier Liaison Program Bulletin directing all airlines operating international flights to or from the United States to submit only "M" or "F" in the sex field of Advanced Passenger Information System pre-departure data, effectively erasing X gender markers for nonbinary and transgender travelers. Airlines submitting an X in place of a binary marker were required to resubmit, while carriers that substituted M or F for a traveler's actual X passport marker would face no penalty. CBP began enforcing the binary-only requirement on October 14, 2025, after a 90-day informed compliance period.

June

Supreme Court ruled 6-3 district courts cannot issue nationwide injunctions, eliminating key civil rights enforcement tool

The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on June 27, 2025, in Trump v. CASA, Inc. that federal district courts lack authority to issue nationwide injunctions protecting people beyond named parties in a case. The majority opinion, written by Justice Barrett, held that the Judiciary Act of 1789 authorizes only injunctions necessary to provide complete relief to named plaintiffs. The ruling immediately allowed Trump's birthright citizenship executive order to partially take effect against non-parties in states that had not filed suit, while courts continued finding the order unconstitutional.

Supreme Court ruled 6-3 Medicaid patients cannot sue to enforce free-choice-of-provider, clearing path to exclude Planned Parenthood

The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on June 26, 2025, in Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic that Medicaid enrollees cannot use 42 U.S.C. § 1983 to enforce the program's free-choice-of-provider provision in federal court. Justice Gorsuch's majority opinion held the provision imposes duties on states without conferring individual rights that § 1983 protects, allowing South Carolina's exclusion of Planned Parenthood from Medicaid to stand. At least 14 other states had enacted or attempted similar exclusions, each now free of judicial check by patients through this mechanism.

Supreme Court 6-3 stayed order requiring torture screening before third-country deportations, enabling removals to South Sudan and Libya

The Supreme Court voted 6-3 on June 23, 2025, to stay a federal district court order that had required the Trump administration to provide immigrants a meaningful opportunity to contest removal to dangerous third countries before deportation. The stay immediately allowed the administration to resume removals to South Sudan, Libya, and El Salvador under bilateral agreements, without any screening for Convention Against Torture claims. Justice Sotomayor dissented sharply, writing that the administration had "repeatedly defied" the lower court order and calling the Supreme Court's intervention "so gross an abuse of the Court's equitable discretion."

Trump signed EO 14310, third consecutive order directing DOJ not to enforce TikTok divestment law

President Trump signed Executive Order 14310 on June 19, 2025, extending for a third consecutive time the non-enforcement of the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, which required ByteDance to divest or cease operating TikTok by January 19, 2025. The order extended the DOJ non-enforcement period to September 17, 2025, retroactively immunized all past non-compliance dating back to the statutory deadline, and declared state-level enforcement of the law an encroachment on executive power.

Defense Secretary Hegseth told Senate he would follow appellate court but defy district court order blocking Los Angeles military deployment

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee on June 18, 2025, stating he would respect the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals' ruling allowing the Los Angeles National Guard deployment to continue, but would not comply with U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer's temporary restraining order blocking it. Hegseth also asserted that deployed troops could "temporarily detain" protesters and hand them to ICE for immigration processing. Senator Elizabeth Warren extracted a commitment from Hegseth to follow Supreme Court orders—a response that itself implied he would not necessarily obey lower courts.

Trump deployed 2,000 more National Guard to Los Angeles after protests end, directed ICE to target Democratic-run cities

On June 17, 2025, the Trump administration activated an additional 2,000 California National Guard troops from the 49th Military Police Brigade for deployment to Los Angeles, even as the downtown curfew was lifting and protests had largely subsided. On the same day, Trump posted to Truth Social directing ICE to prioritize deportation operations in Democratic-run cities — explicitly naming Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York — and reversed a June 12 pause on agricultural, hotel, and restaurant worksite raids.

SAMHSA ended 988 Lifeline's LGBTQ+ specialized counseling option, cutting crisis service for high-risk youth

On June 17, 2025, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration announced the immediate termination of the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline's LGBTQ+ specialized counseling sub-line, which allowed callers to press 3 to reach counselors trained in LGBTQ+ youth mental health crisis intervention. The service had logged approximately 1.3 million contacts since its October 2022 launch. SAMHSA cited exhausted congressionally directed funding, though the Trump administration retained authority to reallocate existing HHS mental health funds to continue the service.

U.S. Marines detained Army veteran Marcos Leao for two hours outside Wilshire Federal Building; no charges filed

On June 13, 2025, U.S. Marines from the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment — deployed under Title 10 authority to assist immigration enforcement operations in Los Angeles — detained Marcos Leao, a U.S. Army veteran, outside the Wilshire Federal Building. Marines zip-tied Leao's hands behind his back and held him for approximately two hours before releasing him without charges. Legal experts identified the detention as the first known instance of active-duty military detaining a civilian during the Los Angeles deployment and cited serious Posse Comitatus Act concerns.

DHS agents forcibly removed and handcuffed Senator Alex Padilla at Noem press conference in Los Angeles

On June 12, 2025, FBI police officers and U.S. Secret Service agents physically seized California Senator Alex Padilla, dragged him from the room, and handcuffed him face-down outside after he stood to question Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem about immigration enforcement operations at her press conference at the FBI Los Angeles Field Office. Padilla was not arrested and no charges were filed; video showed him identifying himself as a senator before agents removed him. The incident drew bipartisan condemnation, with Republican Senators Collins and Murkowski calling it "disturbing," and Senate Democrats demanding a congressional investigation.

Trump signed three CRA resolutions revoking California Clean Air Act waivers; GAO and Senate parliamentarian found CRA inapplicable

On June 12, 2025, President Trump signed H.J. Res. 87, 88, and 89 into law, revoking three EPA Clean Air Act waivers that authorized California to enforce stricter-than-federal vehicle emissions standards under its longstanding § 209(b) authority. Both the Government Accountability Office and the nonpartisan Senate parliamentarian had issued findings that the Congressional Review Act does not legally apply to EPA waiver decisions. The three resolutions' enactment permanently bars EPA from issuing any "substantially similar" waiver, ending California's decades-long independent emissions authority without a statutory basis for the prospective ban.

DOJ Civil Division memo elevated denaturalization to top-five priority, expanding revocation criteria far beyond fraud-in-naturalization

On June 11, 2025, Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate signed a DOJ Civil Division enforcement memo making denaturalization one of the division's top five priorities, directing attorneys to "prioritize and maximally pursue denaturalization proceedings in all cases permitted by law and supported by the evidence." The memo expanded revocation criteria beyond war criminals and fraud-in-naturalization to include PPP loan fraud, Medicaid fraud, gang membership, and a catch-all "any other cases" category—affecting all 24.5 million naturalized Americans, who have no right to appointed counsel in these civil proceedings.

HHS Secretary Kennedy dismissed all 17 ACIP members and replaced them with political selections

On June 9, 2025, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dismissed all 17 sitting members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices via a press release and a simultaneous Wall Street Journal op-ed, characterizing them as conflicted and as last-minute Biden appointees. ACIP is the independent federal advisory body whose vaccine recommendations are adopted by the CDC and followed by pediatricians and public health agencies nationwide. Kennedy announced eight replacement members on June 11, 2025; the replacement panel, described by observers as less credentialed than its predecessor, voted 8-3 at its inaugural September 2025 meeting to delay routine administration of the MMRV childhood vaccine — the first change to the immunization schedule under Kennedy's HHS.

Trump invoked § 12406 to federalize California National Guard over governor's objection, labels LA protesters 'rebellion'

On June 7, 2025, President Trump signed a presidential memorandum invoking 10 U.S.C. § 12406 to call at least 2,000 California National Guard members into federal service, transferring command from Governor Gavin Newsom — who explicitly refused consent — to the Department of Defense. The memo labeled Los Angeles anti-ICE protesters as engaged in "a form of rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States," a characterization that carried no factual or legal basis. Two days later, Trump expanded the deployment with an additional 2,000 National Guard troops and authorized 700 Marines from Twentynine Palms, the first domestic active-duty Marine deployment since the 1992 Los Angeles riots.

DHS Secretary Noem terminated Nepal TPS designation, stripping ~12,700 earthquake refugees of immigration protection

On June 6, 2025, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem published a Federal Register notice terminating the Temporary Protected Status designation for Nepal, effective August 5, 2025. Nepal had held TPS since June 24, 2015, following a catastrophic earthquake that caused widespread displacement; the termination affects approximately 12,700 Nepali nationals currently holding TPS. A federal court later ruled the decision was "arbitrary, capricious, and motivated by racial animus," though the ruling was stayed pending appeal.

Trump signed Proclamation 10949 suspending entry from 19 countries, full ban on 12 majority-Black or Muslim-majority nations

On June 4, 2025, President Trump signed Proclamation 10949 creating a new multi-country entry ban effective June 9, 2025. The proclamation imposed a full suspension of entry for nationals of 12 countries—including Afghanistan, Haiti, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen—and partial suspensions for 7 more, including Cuba and Venezuela. Critics and legal analysts identified the country selection criteria as selectively applied, noting that countries with worse vetting records were excluded while 10 of 12 fully banned nations are majority-Black or majority-Muslim.

Trump signed memorandum directing DOJ to investigate Biden's autopen use and alleged cognitive decline, without evidence

On June 4, 2025, President Trump signed a presidential memorandum directing White House Counsel David Warrington and Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate whether officials "conspired to deceive the public" about President Biden's mental state and whether Biden validly executed executive actions through autopen. Legal experts confirmed autopen use has been settled law since a 2005 DOJ OLC opinion; Biden denied the claims; and Trump himself acknowledged the next day that he had not found evidence documents were signed without Biden's approval.

Trump signed Proclamation 10948 banning new Harvard international student visas, directing State to revoke existing ones

On June 4, 2025, President Trump signed Proclamation 10948, suspending entry of all new Harvard-bound international students on F, M, and J visas and directing the Secretary of State to consider revoking existing visas for current Harvard students on a case-by-case basis. The proclamation, issued under INA § 212(f), accused Harvard of jeopardizing the student visa system's integrity by refusing to surrender student records demanded by DHS and defying April 2025 demands to alter curriculum, admissions, and diversity programs. At the time of signing, Harvard enrolled approximately 6,800 international students.

May

HHS directed NIAID to terminate Consortia for HIV/AIDS Vaccine Development funding, ending $258M federal HIV vaccine program

On May 30, 2025, NIAID verbally notified researchers at Scripps Research and Duke University that the Trump administration was terminating the Consortia for HIV/AIDS Vaccine Development (CHAVD), a $258 million, seven-year NIH-funded program representing the largest single federal investment in HIV vaccine research. NIAID also ended funding for three monkey-model vaccine research groups. The termination came as CHAVD researchers were preparing to begin clinical trials on a broadly neutralizing antibody approach that scientists described as the most promising HIV vaccine lead in decades. An HHS spokesperson cited "complex and duplicative health programs" as justification.

Supreme Court 7-2 stayed injunction blocking CHNV parole termination, enabling DHS to revoke status for 532,000 noncitizens

On May 30, 2025, the Supreme Court granted the Trump administration's emergency application to stay a federal injunction, allowing DHS Secretary Kristi Noem to proceed with terminating humanitarian parole for more than 532,000 noncitizens from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela admitted under the Biden-era CHNV programs. The unsigned 7-2 order — with Justices Jackson and Sotomayor dissenting — cleared the way to revoke parole status without the individualized case-by-case review that the district court's injunction had required. Justice Jackson wrote that the majority had "plainly botched" the ruling and decried the "devastating consequences" of upending the lives of nearly half a million people while their legal claims remained pending.