Friday, February 28

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ON THE DOCKET THIS WEEK

• U.S. Supreme Court weighs in on Trump actions
• Arizona court dismisses election administration lawsuit from Stephen Miller’s legal group
• More than $2 billion of federal funding is unfrozen for Pennsylvania

TRUMP ACCOUNTABILITY

U.S. Supreme Court weighs in on Trump actions

The U.S. Supreme Court handed the Trump administration its first legal win Wednesday when Chief Justice John Roberts paused a lower-court order that would have required the Trump administration to release over $1.5 billion to aid organizations for work that was approved by Congress.

The stay came just hours after Washington D.C. District Court Judge Amir Ali issued an order requiring the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Department of State to unfreeze funds to AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition and the Journalism Development Network by before midnight Wednesday.

Roberts’ administrative stay maintains the freeze in order to give the Supreme Court additional time to review written arguments in the cases. Sometime in the coming days, the court may decide to extend its pause on Ali’s order or could require the administration to unlock funding.

Meanwhile, Hampton Dellinger, the head of the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) — a key federal whistleblower agency — will remain in his position until at least March 1, thanks to an order from Washington, D.C. district court judge Amy Berman Jackson.

The Trump administration fired Dellinger Feb. 7 through a one-sentence email that stated no reason for his dismissal. “On behalf of President Donald J. Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position as Special Counsel of the US Office of Special Counsel is terminated, effective immediately,” the email read.

After the attempted dismissal, Dellinger sued, claiming that the administration broke the 1978 law that created his position, which prevents the president from removing the special counsel for reasons other than inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance. A few days later, Jackson blocked the Trump administration’s actions, reinstating Dellinger to his position until a full court hearing on the matter Feb. 26.

But the Trump administration appealed Jackson’s order to SCOTUS, which punted on the challenge to Judge Jackson’s temporary restraining order that first halted Dellinger’s dismissal. The matter is still before the high court. Read more about SCOTUS’ administrative stay here.

ARIZONA

Arizona court dismisses election administration lawsuit from Stephen Miller’s legal group

In a win for voters, an Arizona judge dismissed a lawsuit brought by Stephen Miller’s legal group seeking to upend election policies in Yavapai County. The decision delivered a blow to the America First Legal Foundation (AFL), the right-wing organization founded by the Trump White House’s deputy chief of staff.

The lawsuit was filed by AFL on behalf of Strong Communities Foundation of Arizona, Inc. and residents of Yavapai, Coconino and Maricopa counties in February 2024 challenging a host of election procedures in the three counties. Maricopa County — a Democratic stronghold — was dropped from the case in May 2024 after an appeals court ruled it could not be brought to court in a different county. Likewise, Coconino was dismissed in an agreement with plaintiffs.

The plaintiffs alleged the three counties were plagued by election administration errors, claiming “there is a near-certainty that the November 5, 2024, election (the 2024 general election) will be marred by the same mistakes and maladministration.” Specifically, they challenged the counties’ policies for signature verification, unstaffed drop boxes, ballot curing procedures and cancelling voter registrations. Among other things, the plaintiffs asked for the court or a special master to oversee the county’s elections.

Voting rights advocates intervened in the case and moved to dismiss the lawsuit, claiming the plaintiffs’ requests were “drastic” and “untethered from Arizona law.” They argued the plaintiffs lacked standing and failed to allege violations of law.

In dismissing the lawsuit, the judge ruled that plaintiffs lacked standing to bring the case because they could not prove that they were harmed by Yavapai’s election procedures. Read more about AFL’s dismissed election lawsuit here.

PENNSYLVANIA

More than $2 billion of federal funding is unfrozen for Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) said Monday that the more than $2 billion in federal funding for his state has been unfrozen after he filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration.

Shapiro filed the lawsuit Feb. 13, alleging that federal funding allocated to his state’s agencies over the next several years were frozen by the Trump administration — an effect of a Jan. 27 Office of Management and Budget memo announcing a funding freeze for federal government agencies. The memo was quickly rescinded after backlash and lawsuits, but the administration clarified that the funding freeze was still in effect, pursuant to the previous executive orders Trump issued regarding federal department and agency spending.

In the following week, two federal judges in Rhode Island and Washington, D.C. granted requests for temporary restraining orders, which halted the funding freeze while litigation continues in the lawsuits.

According to Shapiro, the funding released to Pennsylvania will help agencies in “protecting public health, cutting energy costs, providing safe, clean drinking water, and creating jobs in rural communities.” Read more about the unfrozen funding in Pennsylvania here.

OPINION

What Happens When an Executive Ignores the Law? Ask Constitutional Sheriffs.

The “constitutional sheriff” movement has long argued that sheriffs, as elected officials without direct oversight, are beholden to no court, legislature or other executive, Democracy Docket Contributor Jessica Pishko breaks down in a new piece. Instead, the movement presents the sheriff as an “expert” in the constitutionality of laws and scorns the expertise of lawyers and judges. The intentional flouting of laws is prized among these sheriffs as a sign of their authority, and Pishko has observed similarities in Trump and Musk’s attitudes and actions. Read more here.

NEW VIDEO

Republican Explains Why Musk is Trump's Biggest Liability

Sarah Longwell — Republican political strategist, publisher of The xxxxxx and host of The Focus Group Podcast — joins Marc Elias to discuss the cowardice of so-called moderate Republicans, why Elon Musk is one of the GOP's biggest liabilities and the media landscape. Watch it here.

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