Eight days ago a federal judge fined a government lawyer $500 a day for defying her order.
That was the warning shot. Today, Minnesota Chief Judge Patrick Schiltz threatened criminal contempt after his review found more than 200 court order violations since January. Another judge ruled the IRS broke the law 42,695 times by bulk-feeding confidential taxpayer addresses to ICE. Federal judges have stopped issuing warnings. They’re building cases.
And while courts count the crimes, the deportations keep coming. DHS admitted to Congress it deported 86 people protected under DACA, people who grew up here and passed federal background checks every time they renewed. Three senators are demanding answers. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem claimed most had “criminal histories” but refused to provide a single detail.
Call your representatives and demand Noem’s resignation or impeachment. The courts are doing their job. Congress needs to do theirs.
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Capitol Police arrest Rep. Omar’s State of the Union guest Aliya Rahman for standing silently during the speech, weeks after federal agents dragged her from her vehicle in Minneapolis and injured both shoulders.
Today’s GovBrief News
Melania Trump will preside over a UN Security Council meeting Monday in a first for any first lady, while the U.S. owes the organization nearly $4 billion in unpaid dues.
Source: The Associated Press
February 26, 2026
FDA plans quarterly bonuses for staff who complete drug reviews ahead of schedule as agency works to hire 1,000 scientists after exodus under RFK Jr.
Source: Reuters
February 26, 2026
Hillary Clinton denies any Epstein knowledge in House Oversight deposition paused after Rep. Boebert leaks her photo, with Republicans also raising debunked Pizzagate conspiracy.
Source: The Washington Post [gift link]
February 26, 2026
Justice Department exposed seven cooperating witnesses in Epstein file release by failing to redact jail records, only removing names after the New York Times confirmed their cooperation.
Source: The Seattle Times
February 26, 2026
DOJ sues five more states for unredacted voter rolls with Social Security data, bringing total past two dozen, four of the five states voted for Trump.
Source: Politico
February 26, 2026
Anthropic CEO tells Pentagon its threats "do not change our position" on AI safeguards, refusing to allow military use without restrictions on autonomous weapons and mass domestic surveillance after Defense Secretary Hegseth's Friday deadline.
Source: CNBC
February 26, 2026
U.S. military uses anti-drone laser to shoot down a Customs and Border Protection drone in Texas, prompting FAA to close more El Paso airspace two weeks after a similar incident shut down the airport.
Source: The Texas Tribune
February 26, 2026
Sen. Wyden places hold on Trump's nominee to lead NSA and Cyber Command, saying the career special operations officer has no cybersecurity or signals intelligence background.
Source: Breaking Defense
February 26, 2026
Chief Judge Schiltz warns Minnesota's top federal prosecutor and ICE they face criminal contempt after review finds 97 order violations in original cases and 113 more in 77 new cases since January.
Source: The Associated Press
February 26, 2026
Federal judge rules IRS violated the law 42,695 times by disclosing confidential taxpayer addresses to ICE through an automated system that matched names and Social Security numbers in bulk.
Source: Spectrum News
February 26, 2026
Federal Reserve challenges Jeanine Pirro's subpoenas in sealed court proceedings, seeking to block the criminal probe Powell calls pretext for Trump's campaign to control interest rates.
Source: The Wall Street Journal
February 26, 2026
Judge allows Trump's $400 million White House ballroom construction to continue, ruling the legal challenge was insufficient while calling the private funding mechanism a "Rube Goldberg" arrangement.
Source: CBS News
February 26, 2026
Judge rules California must let 20,000 immigrant truck drivers keep their licenses despite Trump administration threats to revoke the state's authority to issue commercial licenses entirely.
Source: SF Gate
February 26, 2026
Kilmar Abrego Garcia asks judge to toss smuggling charges as vindictive after unsealed records suggest DOJ leadership directed prosecution because he won his wrongful deportation case.
Source: WTTG Washington
February 26, 2026
Trump administration asks Supreme Court to end Temporary Protected Status for Syrian nationals, accusing lower courts of "persistent disregard" for the court's prior rulings on TPS terminations.
Source: SCOTUSblog
February 26, 2026
DHS admits to Congress it deported 86 DACA recipients protected under U.S. law, claiming 241 of 261 detained had "criminal histories" but providing no details on charges.
Source: Politico
February 26, 2026
NYC Mayor Mamdani wins Trump backing for 12,000-unit federal housing project and a detained Columbia student's release in one White House visit after bringing mocked-up newspaper front pages.
Source: WABC New York
February 26, 2026
NTSB chair calls House Republican aviation safety bill "watered-down" and says it won't prevent another crash like the Reagan National collision that killed 67 people.
Source: The Associated Press
February 26, 2026
White House posts AI-labeled deepfake of Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk mocking Canadians on official TikTok, though Tkachuk has played for Canada's capital city team since 2018.
Source: USA Today
February 26, 2026
White House rapid response staffer secretly runs 300,000-follower pro-Trump X account that called a racist AI video depicting the Obamas as apes "a masterpiece," Wired reports.
Source: Wired
February 26, 2026
Denver Mayor Johnston bans federal immigration agents from all city property and orders police to arrest agents using excessive force, citing the two fatal Minnesota shootings.
Source: Axios
February 26, 2026