Judge Denies Request To Block DOGE

The week of the DOGE continues. A federal judge just denied the federal labor unions’ attempt to block Elon Musk and DOGE from slashing wasteful government spending. He ruled that the Federal Labor Relations Authority should handle the matter before proceeding further in court.

The unions had filed a lawsuit to prevent the firing of federal employees. Many of these employees are probationary and not fully vested in their employment status. However, the judge said his district court in D.C. was the wrong forum for such a complaint. It’s almost like when you call customer service and get put on hold to be transferred to a different department.

Earlier this week, the federal judge who oversaw Trump’s election interference case also ruled that Musk and DOGE could continue their cost-cutting crusade. In that particular case, 14 states were suing to shut down DOGE. So that’s two major rulings in one week in favor of the Trump Administration.

ACLJ Senior Counsel and Director of Policy Harry Hutchison reacted to the judges’ recent rulings in favor of DOGE:

We have seen a number of these victories that reflect the fact that the Trump lawyers are actually well-prepared this time for the Left’s lawfare. And so if you go back to 2017, the Trump Administration had some difficulty first with Jeff Sessions as Attorney General, who I think was unprepared, and then he decided to recuse himself. But Pam Bondi, the Department of Justice lawyers, and the lawyers for Donald Trump are prepared to do combat. And . . . the judge has declined to block Trump’s effort to shrink the federal workforce. That is something Donald Trump was elected to do, and the failure of Donald Trump to fulfill his mission, arguably, would be an affront to democracy. I think the judge read the Constitution properly.

How ironic is it that activist judges who dragged the country through Trump’s political prosecution are now ruling so quickly in his favor? Perhaps with the White House in place, the judges feel like they must do their job and follow the law accordingly. In the meantime, the ACLJ will continue to file briefs nationwide to defend DOGE’s mission and President Trump’s Executive authority.

Just this morning, the ACLJ had a major religious liberty victory involving a Chicago street preacher who was outrageously arrested and detained for sharing the Gospel. ACLJ Associate Counsel Liam Harrell joined the broadcast to update us:

We had a street preacher in Chicago right outside Millennium Park, where he had a little speaker, he had a microphone, and he was spreading the Good News. The police came up to him and said, Hey, you need a permit for what you’re doing. So they tried to cite him. And they also tacked on a resisting arrest and obstruction of justice charge, which was completely unfounded. And we know that because his friend had filmed the entire interaction.

So the minute [the ACLJ] heard about this case, we knew we needed to step in. We came into Chicago this morning, totally prepared for a trial. We got a hold of the prosecutor, and we got to show him the video. . . . We explained to the prosecutor, There’s no way – this isn’t right. And after about 20–30 minutes . . . [the] prosecutor agreed to dismiss the counts. And so that was a great favorable resolution. It was absolutely great to shake [our client’s] hand and tell him he’s free to go and continue spreading the Good News.

We celebrate this massive victory that was resolved even before the trial began. No one should ever be arrested in America for sharing their faith. Because of our ACLJ Members and Champions, we were able to represent this preacher at no cost to him. Your support is making a true difference.

Today’s Sekulow broadcast included a full analysis of the latest federal judge’s ruling in favor of DOGE. ACLJ Senior Counsel for International and Government Affairs Jeff Ballabon mourned the deaths of the latest Israeli hostages – including a nine-month-old baby. Former Acting Director of National Intelligence Ric Grenell discussed AG Pam Bondi’s threat to violent anti-Israel protesters.

Watch the full broadcast below: