The en banc opinions of the Fourth Circuit in AFSCME v. Social Security Administration, dealing with the Temporary Restraining Order issued by the district judge against the SSA providing DOGE with unfettered access to the personal, non-anonymized information of pretty much everyone in America for no particularly good reason, was ultimately stayed by the Supreme Court for no particularly good reason.  It is an exercise in legal masturbation in its purest form.

The majority, in an opinion by Judge Toby Heytens, with three concurrences and a partial concurrence and a dissent, took the position that there was no new irreparable harm, warranting a TRO, and that any harm could be cured by compensation, and therefore wasn’t irreparable. Continue reading →

It was an unusual sight, the First Lady of the United States striding up to a lectern with the presidential seal affixed, the scene oddly reminiscent of the president mere days before. Melania Trump, The Donald’s fraught third attempt at monogamy, then gave a speech denying her relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and his “accomplice,” Ghislaine Maxell.

Perhaps there was someone, somewhere, pointing a crooked finger at Melania, but if so, it eluded most of us. So why doth she protest too much? Continue reading →

Karoline Leavitt told the White House press corp that NATO was “tested and failed.” She further stated that Trump would be discussing with the NATO secretary general the possibility of the United States withdrawing from NATO.

Trump, in all caps as is his way, issued yet again his grievance that the NATO allies didn’t come running to back him up when he, without having gotten their prior approval or commitment, decided to attack Iran and after his denigrating, mocking, tariffing and challenging our former friends, demanded they come to his aid. Continue reading →

Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt did her job as best she could.

This is a victory for the United States that President Trump and our incredible military made happen.

From the very beginning of Operation Epic Fury, President Trump estimated this would be a 4-6 week operation.

Thanks to the unbelievable capabilities of our warriors, we have…

— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) April 8, 2026

Trump threatened that “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,” which was variously viewed as Trump being particularly macho or Trump being particularly demented. As it turned out, Iran didn’t “die,” as Trump announced that he would accept Pakistan’s plan for a two-week ceasefire because Iran’s 10-point plan, summarily rejected the day before, was suddenly worthy of discussion. Continue reading →

The mantra is the law is the law, simplistic though it may be. But the contortions of law, starting with detention of any and every alien not lawfully present in the United States flew in the face of both long-standing practice and, well, the circumstances of Staff Sergeant Matthew Blank and his bride, Annie Ramos.

A U.S. Army staff sergeant and his wife arrived at his base in Louisiana last week, expecting to begin their life together as newlyweds.

The couple checked in at the visitor center, identification in hand, ready to complete the steps that would allow her to move into his home on the base.

Within hours, that plan had unraveled.

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A couple federal judges were humiliated when it was revealed that they had used AI to write their decisions, as AI did what AI does, and used fake hallucinated citations. Oopsie. But fake cites are only the easiest problems to find. When cites and quotes don’t exist, it’s merely a matter of someone doing the legwork of checking, whereupon the error becomes obvious. Unfortunately, such obvious mistakes are not the only way in which AI is infiltrating the judiciary

When Xavier Rodriguez, a Texas-based federal judge, prepares for a hearing, he usually begins by turning to artificial intelligence. He feeds the relevant court filings into an AI tool that quickly produces a timeline of the case and the claims that parties are making for him to review.

“My law clerks would be wasting 30, 45 minutes, an hour, developing a chronology of events,” Rodriguez told The Washington Post. “This thing does it instantaneously.” Continue reading →

According to official sources, those being the president and secretary of WAR, Iran lost the war (in the first hour and every hour since), has no navy or air force, and is desperately seeking Trump’s mercy to end the war. Iran, apparently, was unaware of its desperation, not to mention the negotiations that were going so well that Trump back off his ultimatums time and again. After all, “unconditional surrender” only lasted about a day, and what’s the difference if we already WON!!!

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Pamela Jo Bondi had the blond hair of a Trump gal and the resume of a Florida attorney general. Yet, she wasn’t Trump’s first choice for the job, as many forget that Trump had his eye on the one person who best personified justice in the age of Trump. No, not Roy Cohn, who was dead, although if he wasn’t dead, he would no doubt be a prime candidate for AG, if not SCOTUS itself. No, it was the venerable Matt Gaetz, whose legal genius was only surpassed by his appreciation of underage women and deep interest in Aliens.*

When even the Republican controlled, Trump loyal, Senate couldn’t stomach Gaetz, and so the job went to Pam Bondi. Before her confirmation, Bondi put on her nice girl act. Afterward, not so much. Despite her belligerence in support of Trump, she never stood a chance.

President Trump had complained too freely, too frequently, to too many people about her inability to prosecute the people he hates. She was falling short of Mr. Trump’s unyielding, unrealistic demands for retribution against his enemies. She had made mistake upon mistake in her handling of the Epstein files. Her critics were in the president’s ear.

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In an op-ed in the New York Times, Prawf  Stephen Vladeck makes the point that, even though Trump appears certain to lose the birthright citizenship case argued before the Supreme Court, he’s already won.

If anything was clear during Wednesday’s Supreme Court oral argument in the birthright citizenship case, Trump v. Barbara, it’s that President Trump is going to lose. The justices’ questions were skeptical enough to suggest that somewhere between six and eight of the justices will hold that Mr. Trump’s executive order purporting to limit birthright citizenship is unlawful, whether because it violates an immigration statute Congress enacted in 1940 and updated in 1952, the citizenship clause of the 14th Amendment, or both.

It’s generally perilous to believe that the questions posed during oral argument reveal what the outcome will be, as justices often challenge arguments only to later take the position that they appeared challenge. It’s a way to test arguments rather than reveal votes. But based on yesterday’s oral argument, the questions posed appear overwhelmingly to demonstrate that the majority of justices rejected the specious arguments that John Eastman, and hence Trump, and thereafter the MAGA faithful, found powerful. They were neither textual, relevant nor historically sound, even though they’ve been sold to, and bought by, the gullible and clueless. Continue reading →

Judge Richard Leon, appointed by George W. Bush, preliminarily enjoined the construction of Trump’s Folly, the gargantuan yet gaudy ballroom that would dwarf the White House and fundamentally change the nature of one of the premier symbols of the nation.

The President of the United States is the steward of the White House for future generations of First Families. He is not, however, the owner! President Trump (“the President”) claims that Congress has given him authority in existing statutes to construct his East Wing ballroom project and to do it with private funds. The plaintiff, the National Trust for Historic Preservation in the United States (“National Trust”), claims the President has no such authority under existing statutes and that a preliminary injunction is necessary to avoid irreparable harm. I have concluded that the National Trust is likely to succeed on the merits because no statute comes close to giving the President the authority he claims to have. As such, I must therefore GRANT the National Trust’s Motion for a Preliminary Injunction, and the ballroom construction project must stop until Congress authorizes its completion.

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