The Trump admin was back in court today facing a skeptical Judge Richard Leon, as DOJ defended Trump’s authority to construct a massive White House ballroom. DOJ’s position “takes some brazen interpretation of the laws of vocabulary,” Leon said. New: news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

New: ACS's new president Phil Brest hopes to rebuild a group some say has waned in relevance. He doesn't have all the answers right now, but he doesn't need reminders of what's facing the progressive network founded to counter the conservative legal movement. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Trump has tapped more graduates from George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School to be judges in his second term than from any other law school in the nation, @suzannemonyak.bsky.social and @jacqthomsen.bsky.social report news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Retired MA federal Judge Mark Wolf created a stressful culture in chambers, including by yelling and throwing papers, some former staff told me. Wolf resigned last year to speak freely about Trump's "assault on the rule of law" after decades on the bench. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

The Supreme Court is siding with President Donald Trump 75% of the time when challenges arrive via the emergency docket, a Bloomberg Law analysis found by @jacqthomsen.bsky.social and @suzannemonyak.bsky.social found news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

“Something got fouled up”: Congress tacked on an extra $30 million for security for Supreme Court justices in an unrelated spending bill following a last-minute request from court officials. w/ @suzannemonyak.bsky.social news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Tennessee man pleads guilty to stealing credentials to access the Supreme Court’s electronic filing system and posting screenshots on an Instagram account under the handle “@ihackedthegovernment,” @suzannemonyak.bsky.social reports news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

The Justice Department sent letters to former employees with the Community Relations Service and Access to Justice offices on Friday rescinding the earlier reduction-in-force notices, @suzannemonyak.bsky.social reports news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

A Virginia man pleaded not guilty to planting explosive devices near political committee offices the day before the US Capitol riot.

Congressional spending leaders agreed to restore funding for the Justice Department’s dismantled “peacemakers” office and pour money into grant programs targeted by Trump’s administration, @suzannemonyak.bsky.social reports: news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

The Trump administration’s move to deploy US Marshals Service officers for immigration enforcement and local crime operations has worsened staffing shortages at the agency tasked with protecting federal judges, @suzannemonyak.bsky.social reports news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

“A federal judge should not by his public conduct engage in what the public will reasonably understand as a sign of political support,” NYU legal ethics professor Stephen Gillers tells @suzannemonyak.bsky.social about Emil Bove attending Trump's speech Tuesday news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

The Trump administration is considering demolishing four historic Washington buildings, including those that housed HUD and Voice of America, a former government official alleged in a declaration, @suzannemonyak.bsky.social reports news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

NEW: US District Judge Sarah Pitlyk and Jesus Osete of the DOJ's Civil Rights Division are on a White House list of candidates interviewing for an 8th Circuit seat, per source familiar Litigator Erin Hawley, Sen. Hawley's spouse, also expressed interest news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

“This is what happens when you completely unmoor DOJ from the historical expertise that DOJ possesses,” said Sasha Samberg-Champion, a former appellate lawyer for the Civil Rights Division, tells Celine Castronuovo and @suzannemonyak.bsky.social news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

President Trump plans to tap a litigator behind efforts to prevent transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports to be a federal judge in Indiana, @suzannemonyak.bsky.social reports news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

The stopgap bill to reopen the govt included extra $$ for federal defenders, after funds for court-appointed attorneys ran out in July. But defenders tell me while they're grateful for the money, it's still not enough to prevent a repeat next year. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

There were few signs of any distance between the Federalist Society and Trump, who’d expressed disappointment earlier this year about advice he’d gotten from the organization on judicial nominations during his first term, @suzannemonyak.bsky.social reports news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche described a “war” against the federal judiciary at the Federalist Society conference today and called on young conservative lawyers in the audience to join the fight, @suzannemonyak.bsky.social reports news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

A trial begins today for the DC man who went viral for throwing a sandwich at a CBP officer in August. Learn more about the case: bit.ly/3JFee9g

Court-appointed specialists who aid defense lawyers are cutting costs & refusing assignments after 4 months of unpaid work. W/ no end in sight to the shutdown, lawyers are telling courts they can't get the experts their clients need. w/ @maiaspoto.bsky.social news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

News: The Texas senators have sent recommended picks for federal judgeships to the White House. Among the new names: Erin Nealy Cox is up for a seat in Dallas, local judge Chris Wolfe is tapped for Waco, fed prosecutor Rob Jones for McAllen news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

A US judge accused prosecutors of “insolence and indifference” after he suggested they impeded an investigation into the attempted murder of his former clerk during a high-profile case and misrepresented his follow-up efforts, @suzannemonyak.bsky.social reports news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

The government shutdown threatens to stress resources for an already strapped criminal defense bar, as the federal judiciary prepares to run out of cash, @suzannemonyak.bsky.social reports news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

The recent uptick in threats has heightened concerns around well-being and prompted new efforts to address it, including roundtables and support networks for federal judges, steps former judges say are long overdue, @suzannemonyak.bsky.social reports news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

At least a third of senior career leaders have left the Justice Department since the start of President Donald Trump’s second term, taking with them centuries of combined expertise, according to a Bloomberg Law analysis by @suzannemonyak.bsky.social news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

News: Trump's planned nominee for US attorney in Eastern VA, Lindsey Halligan, arrives today as interim chief prosecutor. She's sworn in by Bondi to get to work in an office under pressure to indict Tish James. w/ @suzannemonyak.bsky.social news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-...

Scoop: Trump DOJ departs from protocols that prevented politicized civil rights hiring to restock a depleted division. At least two new hires were removed or suspended from prior prosecutor jobs while facing complaints. With @suzannemonyak.bsky.social: news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

EXCLUSIVE: The Justice Department is consolidating civil rights attorney hiring authority with a handful of supervisors, departing from practices that were designed to avoid politicization, @benjaminpenn.bsky.social and @suzannemonyak.bsky.social report news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

A rotating group of four assistant US attorneys, a supervisor, and paralegal have had to be on call starting at 5:30 p.m. every night for a 24-hour shift to handle the federal arrest surge, @suzannemonyak.bsky.social and @benjaminpenn.bsky.social report news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Exclusive from @suzannemonyak.bsky.social & me on continued upheaval at DOJ civil rights division: - 2 probationary attorneys fired - Others forced into sections focused on voter fraud & anti-DEI probes - AAG Dhillon hires "new class of civil rights warriors" news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Alleged sandwich thrower Sean Charles Dunn is an international affairs specialist with the Office of International Affairs within the department’s criminal division, @suzannemonyak.bsky.social reports. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

New w/ @suzannemonyak.bsky.social: DOJ OLC overturns 1978 policy forbidding prosecutions of low-level border entry offenses when immigrants are apprehended outside the district they first entered. They can now be charged wherever they're arrested. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

On the allegations from a former DOJ lawyer claiming Emil Bove -- Trump's former personal lawyer, top DOJ official and 3rd Circuit nominee -- discussed defying court orders, from @suzannemonyak.bsky.social‬ (1st reported by NYT) buff.ly/B38vrTy

One criminal defense lawyer is taking out a loan. Another will be paying her law student intern out of pocket and “putting everything on credit cards.” My latest on CJA panel attorneys bracing to foot the bill this summer after judiciary funds expire: news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

The Trump administration is ratcheting up its threats of prosecution against Democrats and other critics, in an escalation of its use of the legal system to go after perceived enemies, @justinfwise.bsky.social and @suzannemonyak.bsky.social report news.bloomberglaw.com/white-collar...

New: House Dems announced legislation that would move the Marshals out of the Justice Department and into the judicial branch, amid rising threats against judges and concerns about the independence of the courts. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Time is running out for Ed Martin, Trump’s controversial pick for DC US attorney, to be confirmed after opposition from key Senate Republican. His acting term expires May 20, two days before the earliest date the Judiciary panel can vote under its rules. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

New this AM: Judiciary Chair Grassley said he's going to wait to put Jan. 6 advocate Ed Martin's nomination for DC US attorney on the agenda while reviews continue. Sen. Durbin said as a result, he'll hold off on calling a vote to hold a hearing on Martin. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

This from my colleagues @suzannemonyak.bsky.social, Justin Wise, and Roy Strom is very much worth reading.

“They are demolishing the civil rights division and repurposing it for something it’s not meant to do,” a current division employee tells @suzannemonyak.bsky.social news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Scoop: Two top career supervisors in the Justice Department’s civil rights division have been temporarily reassigned to other offices, as part of the Trump administration’s effort to reshape the unit tasked with enforcing anti-discrimination laws. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

The opinions from Wilkinson and Ho, who joined the bench 33 years apart, reflect a generational divide among Republican appointees as they confront rising tensions with the executive branch, @jacqthomsen.bsky.social and @suzannemonyak.bsky.social report news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Ed Martin published several coloring books, including “Promises Made Promises Kept,” “Covfefe Christmas Can’t Trump This,” “Covfefe Top Trump Tweets,” and “Covfefe Patriot or Traitor," @suzannemonyak.bsky.social reports news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Hundreds of pizzas have been delivered to the homes of judges and their adult children amid increasing threats to the judiciary, including some sent in the name of a New Jersey federal judge’s murdered son, @suzannemonyak.bsky.social reports news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

A lead prosecutor nearly pulled off a major case days before trial. Signs emblazoned with Trump’s executive order to make DC “safe and beautiful” hanging on each floor. My latest on the low morale & tumult at the DC US attorney’s office under Ed Martin: news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Scoop: Interim DC US attorney Ed Martin announced his investigation into Capitol riot prosecutions has “expanded in scope” and likened the government’s use of an obstruction statute against rioters to Japanese internment. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Senate Rs have rallied behind a House-led effort to restrict nationwide injunctions, as part of Republicans' ongoing battle against judges who’ve ruled against the Trump administration. Judiciary Chair Grassley will intro his bill next week, per his spox. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Judge Lawrence VanDyke said his colleagues on the Ninth Circuit don't understand how guns work. His solution? An unusual video dissent, filmed in his chambers, in which he went over the parts of several handguns.

Scoop: Interim US attorney Ed Martin, who has amplified false claims of election fraud, said he’s formed a special unit to uphold US election laws that has already started one investigation, per officewide email viewed by @bloomberglaw.com news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...