Trump ramps up assaults on judges after week of rulings to decelerate his agenda: Live updates

During a high-stakes hearing over Donald Trump’s use of a centuries-old wartime law to swiftly deport suspected Venezuelan gang members, a federal judge rebuked lawyers for the Department of Justice for their “intemperate and disrespectful language” in their responses to court orders.

Trump and his allies have threatened to impeach Judge James Boasberg after he temporarily blocked the administration from deporting immigrants under the Alien Enemies Act and questioned whether the government intentionally defied his court orders to turn planes around before they emptied out dozens of people into a prison in El Salvador last week.

Alex Woodward reports.

Despite the pressure food banks find themselves under, with funding down from pandemic highs and inflation high, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has chosen to pause and review existing programs, canceling some $500 million in deliveries.

Such an interruption can have serious consequences for people reliant on food banks — one in every six Americans — and especially those in rural areas.

Food banks across the country — already facing huge cuts to locally grown food assistance — learned this week that the U.S. Department of Agriculture is canceling $500 million in expected food deliveries, further disrupting help at a time when need continues to rise.

Vince Hall, chief government relations officer at Feeding America, the country’s largest hunger-relief organization, said some local food banks and food pantries were told that USDA deliveries of commodities such as cheese and meat are being canceled at least temporarily. Many others were not notified by federal officials that their deliveries were not coming, he said.

Hall characterized the USDA’s decision as a pause to review existing programs and said his organization is hoping the administration will resume purchases and deliveries “with minimum disruption on the flow of food.” Groups working in rural areas, which rely more on government food than gleaning, would be especially hard hit by a lack of commodities, he said.

Eric Garcia writes:

But rather, Trump received praise from almost all Republican lawmakers despite the fact that he subverted their power and took away their authority.

Only a few, like Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy, who helped put Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s confirmation as Health and Human Services Secretary over the finish line, alluded to proposing legislation.

But it’s just the latest example of Congress utterly abdicating its duties in the name of Trump.

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Alex Woodward listened in.

President Donald Trump’s administration requested that the federal judge overseeing the challenge to Trump’s executive order aimed at the law firm Perkins Coie recuse herself from the case, alleging a “pattern of hostility” toward the president.

Justice Department lawyers said U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell’s impartiality could “reasonably be questioned.” They referenced her previous rulings against Trump and comments made in cases involving his supporters related to the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

“This Court has not kept its disdain for President Trump secret,” the lawyers wrote in a court filing. “It has voiced its thoughts loudly—both inside and outside the courtroom.”

Last week, Howell temporarily blocked the Trump administration from enforcing much of its order against the Democratic-linked firm Perkins Coie, determining that it likely violated the U.S. Constitution.

The Trump administration has escalated its criticism of federal judges in recent weeks as courts have at times sought to limit Trump’s broad use of presidential power.

With reporting from Reuters

The university will give police new powers to arrest students, ban face masks at protests, and appoint a university official to oversee changes at its Department of Middle East, South Asian and African Studies and Center for Palestine Studies.

Josh Marcus reports.

Richard Hall writes:

The election was decided more than four months ago and the next one is years away, but Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was in full campaign mode when she took to the stage in Las Vegas on Thursday afternoon.

“Are you ready to fight? Are you ready to win?” she shouted to a capacity crowd of more than 3,000 people. “We’re gonna take our country back.”

Ocasio-Cortez traveled across the country to join her political mentor Bernie Sanders on a “Fighting Oligarchy” tour that will hit several states this week.

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Nearly 250 years after America declared independence from Great Britain, President Donald Trump suggested he was open to taking a small step back towards the warm embrace of the British monarchy after a media outlet reported that King Charles III intends to extend an offer for the United States to join the Commonwealth of Nations.

The King is reportedly preparing to extend the offer of “associate membership” in the voluntary association of 56 nations, most of which have history as former British colonies. Trump, it seems, is open to the idea.

Andrew Feinberg reports.

Gustaf Kilander reports.

Dropkick Murphys’ Ken Casey has broken his silence after branding a Donald Trump supporter in the audience a “cult” member for waving around a MAGA hat.

The lead singer of the punk band, known for their 2005 signature hit I’m Shipping Up to Boston, confronted a fan during one of three performances at the MGM Music Hall beside Boston’s Fenway Park over St Patrick’s Day weekend.

James Liddell reports on what he said.