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Trump Admin To Nearly Halve Immigration Appeals Board

By Britain Eakin

The Trump administration is whittling down the immigration court system's appellate body in a move reminiscent of former Attorney General John Ashcroft's 2002 purge of board members who were viewed as more sympathetic to immigrants.

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DOJ Says Job Protections For ALJs Are Unconstitutional

By Hailey Konnath

The U.S. Department of Justice announced Thursday that it no longer backs long-standing job protections for administrative law judges, saying it has determined that the "multiple layers of removal restrictions" shielding ALJs are unconstitutional because they violate the separation of powers doctrine.

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DOJ Says It Will Drop Immigrant Bias Case Against SpaceX

By Lauren Berg

The U.S. Department of Justice told a Texas federal judge Thursday that it plans to drop administrative proceedings alleging Elon Musk's Space Exploration Technologies Corp. refused to hire refugees and asylees.

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Guantanamo Deportees Get Phone Access To Attys, Feds Say

By Bonnie Eslinger

The U.S. government urged a D.C. federal judge to reject a request from the ACLU and other advocates to give unauthorized immigrants held at Guantanamo in-person access to lawyers, saying Thursday that the detainees have the ability to speak to attorneys by telephone.

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Trump Admin Must Obey Order To Restore Aid, Judge Says

By Lauren Berg

A Washington, D.C., federal judge on Thursday ordered the Trump administration to restore foreign assistance funding in accordance with his temporary restraining order, but stopped short of sanctioning the government officials.

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Feds Say DC Judge Can't Bar 'Hypothetical' Spending Freezes

By Ali Sullivan

A Justice Department attorney argued before a D.C. federal judge Thursday that there is no basis to continue blocking the Trump administration from implementing a blanket suspension on federal spending, saying the court cannot bar "hypothetical" future freezes.

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Noem Cuts Temporary Protected Status Extension For Haiti

By Tom Lotshaw

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Thursday partially vacated an extension of deportation protections Joe Biden's administration had approved for hundreds of thousands of Haitians living in the U.S.

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DOD To Shift $50B To Trump Defense Spending Priorities

By Madeline Lyskawa

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth directed the agency to shift $50 billion from its 2026 budget away from "Biden-legacy programs" to programs that align with President Donald Trump's "America first" agenda. 

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State Department Narrows Eligibility For Visa Interview Waivers

By Madeline Lyskawa

The State Department reverted its criteria for obtaining a visa interview waiver to the agency's pre-COVID-19 standards, narrowing eligibility to applicants who are seeking to renew their nonimmigrant visa of the same classification within 12 months of its expiration.

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2nd Circ. Agrees Parts Of NY Ag Labor Law Can Stand

By Beverly Banks

Portions of a New York agricultural labor law related to a card-check process for unionization and impasse arbitration can stand, the Second Circuit ruled, upholding a lower court's partial denial of an injunction bid from a farming group based on due process and other constitutional claims.

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9th Circ. Won't Roll Back Birthright Citizenship Injunction

By Rachel Riley

The Ninth Circuit rejected President Donald Trump's emergency bid to partially halt a Washington federal court's injunction on his executive order limiting birthright citizenship.

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Trump Seeks Fast Relief From Birthright Citizenship Injunction

By MJ Koo

The Trump administration has asked the Fourth Circuit to reinstate an executive order ending birthright citizenship while challenging a Maryland judge's injunction, arguing that the judge's order is overbroad.

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Venezuelans Fight DHS Decision To End Removal Protections

By Tom Lotshaw

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem acted unlawfully when she moved to terminate temporary deportation protections for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans in the U.S. and was driven, at least in part, by racial animus, the National TPS Alliance told a California federal judge.

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Split 4th Circ. Denies Asylum To Salvadoran Couple

By Elliot Weld

The Fourth Circuit denied a Salvadoran couple's petition to overturn an immigration judge's order rejecting their asylum claim, saying they had not shown that the government of El Salvador was unwilling or unable to protect them from the MS-13 street gang.

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Tax Trial Paused For Strip Club Boss Accused Of Hiding $5.7M

By Anna Scott Farrell

The trial of a strip club operator accused of hiding $5.7 million in income from the IRS and lying to get a pandemic relief grant was pushed back Thursday after he requested more time to allow a forensic accountant to review financial documents.

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Series

Competitive Weightlifting Makes Me A Better Lawyer

The parallels between the core principles required for competitive weightlifting and practicing law have helped me to excel in both endeavors, with each holding important lessons about discipline, dedication, drive and failure, says Damien Bielli at VF Law.

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US Atty Pick In DC Probes Dem Lawmakers Over 'Threats'

By Rachel Scharf

President Donald Trump's nominee for U.S. attorney in the District of Columbia, who is already serving on an interim basis, has sent letters to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and at least one other Democratic lawmaker as part of a larger probe into supposed "threats" to Elon Musk and other federal government employees.

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Analysis

Snapshot: Delaware Lawmakers Target Hefty Atty Fee Awards

By Rose Krebs

Amid a push by Delaware lawmakers to overhaul the First State's corporation law provisions, the state Senate is seeking recommendations aimed at avoiding "excessive" attorney fee awards in corporate litigation, drawing a mixed reaction from lawyers and a corporate law scholar.

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Weil Says Executive Partner To Retire, Adds Global Committee

By Rachel Rippetoe

Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP announced Thursday that it will be restructuring its leadership team in anticipation of its executive partner Barry Wolf's retirement in a few years.

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Judge's Son Concedes Misstatement To Police After Shooting

By Gina Kim

The son of a California judge on trial for allegedly murdering his wife with a handgun acknowledged during cross-examination Thursday that he didn't see his father pull the gun out and aim it at the victim before firing, despite telling police otherwise.

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McConnell Stresses Courts' Role In Retirement Announcement

By Courtney Bublé

Longtime Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell announced Thursday that he will not seek reelection next year and used the occasion to advise against questioning the "fundamental duty" of the courts.

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Texas Bar Forbids Revenue Sharing With Non-Atty Companies

By Emily Sawicki

In a new opinion, the State Bar of Texas' ethics watchdog said lawyers shouldn't pay revenue percentages to nonlawyer-owned businesses that provide legal support services, though attorneys may own equity interests in such companies under certain conditions.

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Senate Confirms Kash Patel As FBI Director 51-49

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate voted 51-49 on Thursday to confirm Kash Patel to be the next director of the FBI.

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Ga. Panel Rips Willis' 'Delay Tactic' Over Trump Case Probe

By Jake Maher

A Georgia state Senate committee investigating Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis over her prosecution of President Donald Trump in an election interference case has blasted her attempt to dismiss multiple subpoenas against her as a "bald-faced delay tactic."

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New Jersey Courts To Explore Adoption Of NextGen Bar Exam

By Matt Perez

New Jersey's highest court has announced it will explore whether to adopt the Next Generation bar exam developed by the National Conference of Bar Examiners.

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