Trump Action Archive

Supporting reports

• Federal judge extends block on Trump's $1.8bn IRS settlement fund — U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema extended her order blocking the Trump administration's $1.8 billion fund created as part of a settlement with the IRS over the leak of Trump's tax returns. The fund had triggered bipartisan outrage when announced. Brinkema conditioned lifting the block on acting attorney general Todd Blanche and treasury secretary Scott Bessent filing a declaration under penalty of perjury within one week that the fund would not proceed. Trump's public equivocation on the fund's status prompted the extension despite Blanche's earlier congressional testimony that it was dead.
• Preliminary injunction ruling — Floyd v. Department of Justice (E.D. Va.) 1:26-cv-01399 — Judge Brinkema granted Plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction, blocking Defendants from taking any action to create or operate the Anti-Weaponization Fund, including transferring money to the Fund, processing claims, making payments, appointing managers, establishing governing rules, or reconstituting the Fund under any other name. The court ordered Defendants to reverse any transfers already made to accounts for the Fund and submit a compliance status report within seven days. The court also ordered Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward, Jr., and Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent to file declarations under the penalty of perjury affirming they will not take further action to create or operate the Fund by June 19, 2026.
• Virginia Judge Leonie Brinkema issued injunction halting Trump's $1.8 billion slush fund — Virginia Judge Leonie Brinkema issued an injunction indefinitely halting Trump's $1.8 billion slush fund for allies, political cronies, and insurrectionists. The DOJ was ordered to produce evidence within one week that the fund has been abandoned, or the civil case will proceed. The ruling represents a judicial check on executive use of public funds for political purposes.

Supporting reports

• Federal judge invalidates Trump's $100,000 H-1B visa fee as unlawful tax — US District Judge Leo Sorokin in Boston issued a 42-page ruling invalidating Donald Trump's $100,000 annual fee on H-1B visa applications, which Trump had imposed via presidential proclamation in September 2025. Sorokin found the fee constituted an unlawful tax that violated federal administrative law and the Constitution, reasoning that only Congress possesses the power to levy taxes. The ruling vacated the fee, which represented a 20-to-50 fold increase over existing rates. The Trump administration is expected to appeal.
• Summary judgment ruling — State of California v. Noem (D. Mass.) 1:25-cv-13829 — Judge Sorokin granted Plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment, holding that the $100,000 payment requirement imposed on H-1B petitions under Proclamation 10973 is an unlawful tax exceeding the President's authority under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), and that the agency actions implementing it violated the APA by bypassing notice-and-comment, exceeding statutory authority, and being arbitrary and capricious. Specifically, Judge Sorokin found the Government's rationale for the payment requirement was “cursory,” lacked “reasoned explanation,” and failed to address the reliance interests of employers. The court vacated the implementing policy in its entirety and entered declaratory judgment that it is unlawful, declining to issue a separate permanent injunction. In the same order, Judge Sorokin denied Defendants' motion to dismiss except as to Plaintiffs' claims against the Department of Justice, the Attorney General, the Department of Labor, and the Secretary of Labor, which Plaintiffs had agreed to voluntarily dismiss and which the court dismissed without prejudice.
• Federal judge strikes down Trump's $100,000 H-1B visa fee — U.S. District Judge Leo T. Sorokin ruled that Trump's $100,000 H-1B visa fee is an unauthorized tax on businesses and must be vacated. The judge found the fee constitutes a tax rather than a penalty, meaning it cannot be imposed without congressional authorization. The precedent cited was the Supreme Court's Obamacare ruling in Sebelius.
• U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin struck down Trump's $100,000 H-1B visa fee as an illegal tax requiring congressional approval. — In California v. Markwaple Mullin, U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin ruled that Proclamation 10973, signed by Trump on September 19, 2025, imposing a $100,000 supplemental payment requirement on H-1B visa petitions, constitutes an illegal tax that must be enacted by Congress. The court found the fee would impede hiring of educators, harm public college staffing and academic research, and worsen medical worker shortages. The court struck down the policy.

Supporting reports

• US District Judge Orders Kennedy Center to Remove Trump's Name from Website — US District Judge Christopher Cooper issued an order requiring the Kennedy Center to remove all references to "Trump Kennedy Center" from its website and materials. The Kennedy Center complied by removing Trump's name from its website on Monday, June 8, ahead of a June 12 deadline set by the center's general counsel. Cooper's 94-page ruling stated that only Congress can change the Kennedy Center's official name, which is statutorily designated for President Kennedy. The judge also temporarily blocked a proposed $257 million renovation project that would have closed the venue for two years.