Lawfare's Litigation Tracker is currently following 233 active cases challenging actions from the Trump administration, including the attempt to suspend SNAP benefits and federalization of National Guard in Illinois. Check it out at lawfaremedia.org/trumptracker.
Today, Letitia James's attorneys filed a motion asking the court to curb prosecutors’ extrajudicial statements, following Lawfare Senior Editor Anna Bower’s recent article recounting a Signal exchange with U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan. Read the motion, from Tyler McBrien.
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Letitia James Asks Court to Curb Prosecutors Extrajudicial Statements
Lawfare Senior Editor Anna Bower’s recent article recounting a Signal exchange with U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan precipitated the motion.
On Oct. 11, Anna Bower started to receive Signal messages from the U.S. attorney who is leading the prosecution of Letitia James. Throughout the exchange, Lindsay Halligan complained about Bower’s tweets and reporting on the indictment–but never once asked to be off the record.
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“Anna, Lindsey Halligan Here.”
My Signal exchange with the interim U.S. attorney about the Letitia James grand jury.
In late September, California became the first U.S. state to enact legislation specifically aimed at regulating advanced AI systems when Gov. Newsom signed SB 53. Lam Tran explains the main pillars of SB 53 and where it sits within the larger AI regulatory landscape.
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Governing Frontier AI: California’s SB 53
As the U.S.’s first state law regulating advanced AI systems, the bill could provide a blueprint for a coherent national framework.
Last weekend, Anna Bower started to receive Signal messages from the U.S. attorney who is leading the prosecution of Letitia James. Throughout the exchange, Lindsay Halligan complained about Bower’s tweets and reporting on the indictment–but never once asked to be off the record.
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“Anna, Lindsey Halligan Here.”
My Signal exchange with the interim U.S. attorney about the Letitia James grand jury.
The U.S. government has shut down. The Trump admin made clear its intention to use this as an opportunity to permanently reduce the size of the federal workforce. Nick Bednar looks at the legal challenges it will face if it tries to implement sweeping reductions in force.
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Reductions in Force During Shutdowns: Easier Said Than Done
Even if a lapse in appropriations justifies RIFs, the administration will struggle to lawfully carry out such RIFs.
In November the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the challenge to President Trump's tariffs. Paul Stephan explores how the major questions doctrine limits the judiciary's ability to allow the president to implement tariffs without clear congressional buy-in.
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IEEPA Authorizes Asset Freezing, Not Seizing
Treating a tax or tariff as different from a confiscation is an interpretive issue that should be decided by Congress, not the judiciary.
"If you dismantle the infrastructure that is responsible for dealing with violent extremist groups and investigating individuals who may be plotting something, that also affects your ability to notice people who may be planning to kill the Charlie Kirks of the world," writes Benjamin Wittes.
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The Situation: A Less Effective FBI
If we’re not already seeing that in the Charlie Kirk investigation, we will soon.
"Accused of debasing the military by having it commit crimes and then boasting of it, Vance does not bother to deny the premise." In the Situation, Benjamin Wittes considers the vice president's tweets defending the targeting killing of civilian drug traffickers.
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The Situation: “The Highest and Best Use of Our Military”
According to the vice president, it’s killing civilian drug traffickers.
Today, Judge Sooknanan held an emergency hearing in a lawsuit filed to challenge the Trump administration's removal of unaccompanied minors to Guatemala. Read Anna Bower's live blog from the hearing:
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Emergency Hearing over the Removal of Unaccompanied Minors to Guatemala
A play-by-play of Judge Sooknanan’s hearing where she blocked the Trump administration's plans to send hundreds of unaccompanied children to Guat...