newrepublic.com
What’s in the water in the state of Maryland? Whatever it is, it’s certainly more invigorating than the sewage that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his grandchildren have been swimming in. A few weeks ago, one of the Old Line State’s senators, Chris Van Hollen, dropped his gloves to take on President Donald Trump’s unlawful banishment and imprisonment of Kilmar Abrego Garcia. This week, his House colleague Kweisi Mfume was responding to an administration flirting with suspending the habeas rights of its citizens in stark, but welcome terms. “It’s a damn shame to continue to see what is happening to our nation under the guise of this Trump administration and his Department of Government Evil,” he said. “He and Elon Musk, really in my opinion, deserve to be arrested and charged with assault on the Constitution.”
![Case 3:25-cv-03698-SI Document 85 Filed 05/09/25 Page 1 of 42
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
AMERICAN FEDERATION OF
GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES, AFL-CIO,
et al.,
Case No. 25-cv-03698-SI
Plaintiffs,
v.
ORDER GRANTING TEMPORARY
RESTRAINING ORDER AND
COMPELLING CERTAIN
DISCOVERY PRODUCTION
Re: Dkt. No. 37
DONALD J. TRUMP, et al.,
Defendants.
United States District Court
Northern District of California
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The new presidential administration has made clear that it intends to change the way the
federal government operates. An Executive Order issued on February 11, 2025 seeks to
“commence[] a critical transformation of the Federal bureaucracy” by “eliminating waste, bloat, and
insularity[.]” Exec. Order No. 14210, 90 Fed. Reg. 9,669 (Feb. 11, 2025). It is the prerogative of
presidents to pursue new policy priorities and to imprint their stamp on the federal government. But
to make large-scale overhauls of federal agencies, any president must enlist the help of his co-equal
branch and partner, the Congress. Federal courts should not micromanage the vast federal
workforce, but courts must sometimes act to preserve the proper checks and balances between the
three branches of government. As a group of conservative former government officials and advisors
have written to the Court, “Unchecked presidential power is not what the Framers had in mind.”
Dkt. No. 69-1 at 1.
The plaintiffs in this case—a collection of unions, non-profit organizations, and local
governments—contend that the executive branch cannot lawfully implement large-scale reductions
in the federal workforce without the participation of Congress. They bring this suit against President
Trump, numerous federal agencies, and their respective agency heads. Specifically, plaintiff](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:et2wciooy67fjldjcvls34c6/bafkreib542du556nwj5en7ajpqw3kbwzjnj7v6rggvnermh4lw3ehxekdu)
