Trump Action Archive

Supporting reports

• Kristi Noem testified before Senate Judiciary Committee — Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday regarding her department's handling of detentions, deportations, and other matters. During the hearing, lawmakers of both parties questioned her on the lawlessness and corruption in the department, including her labeling of individuals shot by federal agents as engaged in "domestic terrorism," her handling of FEMA disaster relief, and her refusal to back away from the administration's characterization of Trump opponents as engaged in "criminal and terroristic conspiracies."
• Sen. Tillis calls for DHS Secretary Noem's resignation — Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) formally called for DHS Secretary Kristi Noem's resignation during the hearing, citing a pattern of poor leadership decisions, detention of American citizens, obstruction of inspector general investigations, and slow response to disaster relief in North Carolina. Tillis submitted a letter from the Office of Inspector General documenting ten instances of being misled and prevented from pursuing investigations, and announced he would place holds on nominations and deny quorum in committee markups until receiving written responses to his questions within two weeks.
• Senate hearing on DHS Secretary Kristi Noem's leadership and conduct — The Senate Homeland Security Committee held a hearing on DHS Secretary Kristi Noem's tenure, during which multiple senators criticized her management, including allegations of misuse of taxpayer funds, improper detention of U.S. citizens, conflicts of interest involving contracts awarded to associates, and failure to cooperate with inspectors general. Sen. Tillis detailed a $220 million ad campaign featuring Noem and questioned her judgment; Sen. Whitehouse asked about luxury aircraft purchases; Sen. Welch raised concerns about no-bid contracts to her former spokeswoman's husband; and Sen. Blumenthal questioned whether an agent involved in a shooting remained on duty.
• Sen. Blumenthal questions whether agent in shooting remains on duty — During the Senate hearing, Sen. Richard Blumenthal asked DHS Secretary Noem whether the agent who shot Ms. Martinez remained on the job carrying a gun. Noem stated she did not know the details and said she would get back to him. Blumenthal expressed concern that Americans would find it "absolutely terrifying" if the agent remained on duty.
• Sen. Welch questions DHS Secretary Noem on arrest quotas — During the Senate hearing, Sen. Chris Coons asked DHS Secretary Noem whether DHS operates with arrest quotas. Noem denied the practice, claiming only "targeted enforcement." Coons countered by citing a statement from Stephen Miller on Fox News the prior year stating, "We're setting a minimum of 3,000 arrests for ICE every day," directly contradicting Noem's testimony.
• DHS Secretary Noem questioned on $220 million ad campaign — During the Senate hearing, Sen. Adam Schiff questioned DHS Secretary Noem about a $220 million taxpayer-funded advertising campaign featuring her prominently. Schiff noted the contract went to a company that did not exist two weeks before receiving it, and that $143 million went to a subcontractor Noem had worked with extensively as South Dakota governor. Noem claimed she had nothing to do with the contract award, though she acknowledged Trump had approved the campaign.
• Sen. Kennedy questions DHS ad spending and Noem's name recognition — Sen. John Kennedy questioned DHS Secretary Noem about the $220 million ad campaign, noting it was a quarter-billion in taxpayer money while the administration was cutting budgets elsewhere. Kennedy stated the campaign was effective for Noem's personal name recognition and put the president in an awkward position, suggesting OMB Director Russ Vought would not have approved such spending.
• DHS Secretary Noem questioned on no-bid contract to former spokeswoman's husband — During the Senate hearing, Sen. Peter Welch questioned DHS Secretary Noem about a $143 million no-bid DHS contract awarded to Yoho, the husband of her former chief spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin. Noem confirmed the relationship and the contract award. Welch also asked Noem to inquire whether Corey Lewandowski, identified as a "special government adviser," received any compensation from these contracts.

Supporting reports

• DOJ fired federal prosecutor who declined to prosecute Comey — MS NOW reported that the Justice Department fired a federal prosecutor who served as first assistant to the now-disqualified U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan after he declined to lead the prosecution of former FBI Director James Comey.
• Six DOJ Civil Rights Division leaders resigned in protest — At least six leaders of the criminal section of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division resigned in protest after the DOJ decided not to investigate the ICE officer who shot and killed Renee Good in Minneapolis, a process that usually takes place after any fatal shooting by a law enforcement officer.
• Federal leadership responded to ICE killings with defensive messaging and threats toward critics — After Renee Good was killed by ICE, federal leadership responded with defensive messaging, threats toward critics, and rhetoric framing accountability as an attack on law enforcement. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem appeared publicly behind messaging stating "One of ours, all of yours," signaling protection from consequences rather than transparency or restraint.
• DOJ Civil Rights Division officials resigned after being ordered not to investigate ICE agent's killing of Renee Nicole Good — Four high-ranking officials in the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division resigned in protest after the Trump DOJ instructed them to investigate the victim, Renee Nicole Good, rather than the ICE agent who shot and killed her. The resignations follow a February wave of departures from the DOJ's Public Integrity Section, where prosecutors refused orders to dismiss a bribery case against New York Mayor Eric Adams. The departures reflect broader institutional collapse within the DOJ, with thousands of career officials resigning or fired.
• Four leaders of DOJ Civil Rights Division criminal section resigned over ICE shooting decision — At least four leaders of the criminal section of the Civil Rights Division at DOJ resigned to protest the decision by Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon not to investigate the fatal ICE shooting of Renee Good. The departures included the chief of the section, principal deputy chief, deputy chief, and acting deputy chief. This represents the most significant mass resignation at DOJ since February 2025, when five leaders of the Public Integrity Section resigned rather than comply with orders to dismiss the bribery case against former New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
• Department of Justice declined to investigate shooting as civil rights violation — The Department of Justice declined to investigate the fatal shooting of Renee Good by ICE agent Jonathan Ross as a civil rights attack. Instead, the DOJ classified the incident as an assault on a federal officer and initiated an investigation into Good's ties to local activists rather than examining the shooting itself. This prosecutorial decision prompted the resignation of at least six career prosecutors from the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division.
• DOJ declines civil-rights investigation into Minneapolis ICE shooting — The Trump administration's Department of Justice leadership declined to open a civil-rights investigation into a Minneapolis ICE shooting incident, stating there was "no basis" for review while the FBI continues its investigation. In response, four senior supervisors in DOJ's Civil Rights Division resigned in protest, citing their exclusion from the case and objecting to the refusal to initiate civil-rights oversight. The resignations signal internal resistance to narrowing accountability mechanisms.
• Federal prosecutors resign from DOJ civil rights division over blocked investigation into ICE shooting — Six lawyers from the US attorney's office in Minnesota and four leaders of the DOJ civil rights division resigned in protest after the department, under assistant attorney general Harmeet Dhillon, declined to investigate the January 7 fatal shooting of unarmed civilian Renee Nicole Good by ICE agent Jonathan Ross. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche stated there was "no basis for a criminal civil rights investigation" without elaboration. The resignations reflect broader purging of the civil rights division, which has lost roughly 70% of its staff since Trump's second term began.
• Federal prosecutors resign in protest over DOJ decision not to investigate killing of Renee Nicole Good — Several federal prosecutors resigned in protest after the Department of Justice declined to conduct a civil rights investigation into the killing of Minneapolis resident Renee Nicole Good by a federal immigration agent. The killing sparked widespread protests and prompted state and local legal challenges to the federal immigration enforcement operation. The Trump administration has defended the agent's actions as self-defense, a characterization disputed by local officials and video evidence.
• Four senior DOJ Civil Rights Division supervisors resign over case exclusion — Four senior supervisors in the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division resigned after being told they would be sidelined from the Minnesota ICE shooting investigation. The resignations were framed as protest against both their exclusion from the case and the broader refusal to open civil-rights oversight into the use-of-force incident. The departures represent internal institutional resistance to the narrowing of accountability mechanisms.
• Six career prosecutors resigned from DOJ Civil Rights Division — At least six career prosecutors from the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division resigned in protest over the DOJ's decision not to investigate the fatal shooting of Renee Good as a civil rights violation and instead to investigate Good's ties to local activists.
• DOJ declines to open civil-rights investigation into Minneapolis ICE shooting — The Department of Justice announced it found "no basis" to open a civil-rights investigation into the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis. The decision was made by DOJ leadership and signaled that civil-rights review would be granted only at the administration's discretion. The refusal to investigate followed the fatal incident and preceded the resignation of four senior DOJ Civil Rights Division supervisors.
• DOJ Civil Rights Division head Harmeet Dhillon declines to open investigation into ICE agent's fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good — Harmeet Dhillon, head of the DOJ's Civil Rights Division, instructed federal prosecutors in the division's criminal section that she would not open an investigation into whether the ICE agent who shot and killed Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis violated federal law. The Civil Rights Division's criminal section normally handles investigations into law enforcement misconduct, but no probe was announced publicly or pursued internally.
• DOJ senior officials pressure federal prosecutors to investigate Renee Nicole Good's widow for criminality; six prosecutors resign — Senior DOJ officials pressed federal prosecutors to investigate Becca Good, widow of Renee Nicole Good, for possible criminality before the shooting. Six federal prosecutors in Minnesota and Washington, D.C.—including some who worked on fraud-related investigations—resigned in response to the pressure to pursue Good's family rather than investigate the ICE agent's conduct. The prosecutors' resignations were prompted by the DOJ's attempt to weaponize the fatal shooting and redirect the FBI's probe toward Good's family and their connections to local activist groups.
• DOJ civil rights division and federal prosecutors resign over handling of ICE shooting — At least four senior leaders of the DOJ Civil Rights Division and six federal prosecutors in Minnesota resigned in response to how the Trump administration handled the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE officer in Minneapolis. The resignations signal institutional breakdown and loss of confidence in federal accountability mechanisms.

Supporting reports

• Trump fires head of Bureau of Labor Statistics — President Trump dismissed the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, accusing her of manipulating employment numbers to portray the economy negatively. This action follows the release of poor employment figures, which Trump claims were intentionally skewed. The firing raises concerns about the independence of statistical agencies and the potential politicization of economic data reporting. The Bureau of Labor Statistics is responsible for collecting and analyzing essential economic data, including employment statistics, which are crucial for policy-making and public understanding of economic conditions.
• Trump administration fires Bureau of Labor Statistics chief after unfavorable jobs report — Trump fired the chief of the Bureau of Labor Statistics hours after the agency reported weak job numbers for the final three months of his administration. White House economic advisors, including Kevin Hassett, claimed downward revisions in employment data constituted evidence of incompetence or rigging, despite economists and former BLS officials explaining that revisions are standard statistical practice and that hundreds of career professionals, not political appointees, construct the numbers. Lawrence Summers stated that firing a government agency head for disliking reported data is characteristic of authoritarian, not democratic, governance.
• Trump fires head of Bureau of Labor Statistics on day of poor economic data — On the same day that the Bureau of Labor Statistics released numbers showing a dramatic slowdown in the economy, Trump fired the head of the bureau. Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook subsequently expressed concern about the jobs numbers, suggesting the revisions "are somewhat typical of turning points" in the economy. The action appears to have alarmed businesspeople previously willing to support Trump, awakening them to the reality that his policies are pulling down the economy.
• Trump fires head of Bureau of Labor Statistics amid economic slowdown — On the same day that the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a significant slowdown in the economy, President Trump fired its head. This action has raised concerns among business leaders about the administration's economic management and its implications for future economic stability.

Supporting reports

• FDA vaccine regulator Peter Marks resigns under pressure — Dr. Peter Marks, the nation's top vaccine regulator and head of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research since 2016, submitted his resignation after being given the choice to resign or be fired. In his resignation letter, Marks expressed deep concern over a measles outbreak in the Southwest exceeding 450 cases and warned that undermining confidence in science threatens public health. Marks stated that Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. does not desire "truth and transparency" but rather "subservient confirmation of his misinformation and lies."

Supporting reports

• Judge blocks Musk agency access to personal data — U.S. District Judge Deborah L. Boardman issued a temporary restraining order preventing Elon Musk's "department of government efficiency" (Doge) from accessing sensitive personal information of millions of Americans. The ruling stops the Department of Education and the Office of Personnel Management from sharing federal employees' and student borrowers' data with Doge, citing potential violations of federal privacy laws. This decision follows a lawsuit by federal employee unions, student loan recipients, and veterans, and represents a significant judicial check on Doge's activities since its establishment by a January executive order.
• Federal court issues injunction against DOGE — On February 24, 2025, a federal court issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), preventing it from disclosing personally identifiable information of federal employees to the DOGE team. This decision followed a lawsuit filed by a coalition of labor unions, which cited a report by Popular Information and Musk Watch. The court found that the plaintiffs were likely to succeed in their claim that OPM's actions violated the Privacy Act. The TRO is set to expire on March 10, 2025, pending further court determination.
• Judge blocks data sharing with Musk's department — A federal judge temporarily blocked the Department of Education and Office of Personnel Management from sharing sensitive data with Musk's Department of Government Efficiency. This decision addresses concerns about data privacy and security.
• Federal judge blocks Doge from accessing personal data — A federal judge temporarily blocked Elon Musk's "department of government efficiency" (Doge) from accessing sensitive personal information of millions of Americans. This decision challenges the Trump administration's efforts to downsize the federal government by limiting Doge's access to data maintained by the US education department and the US office of personnel management.