What changed this week
Sep 29 to Oct 5, 2026: 28 new in The Record, 10 new on the Watchlist, 47 entries updated.
New in The Record
- Charging an Olympian over Reflecting Pool damage later blamed on the renovationCriticized
Federal prosecutors charged former Olympic canoeist David Hearn with a felony over damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, then dropped the case, saying the damage came from a flawed installation. Trump kept calling it vandalism and pressed the U.S. attorney to revisit the case.
- Deporting young asylum seekers protected by a court settlementRuled unlawful
A Trump-appointed judge found the administration in contempt on Sept. 25, 2026 for deporting a 19-year-old asylum seeker to El Salvador a second time, in violation of three court orders.
- Closing the southern border to asylum by proclamationRuled unlawful
On his first day back in office, Trump declared an invasion at the southern border and barred people who cross it from applying for asylum, and officials began removing them without a chance to seek protection.
- Censuring Sen. Mark Kelly and moving to demote him over the 'illegal orders' videoRuled unlawful
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth formally censured Sen. Mark Kelly, a retired Navy captain, and opened a review that could cut his retired rank and pay, after Kelly and five other Democratic lawmakers told troops in a video that they can refuse illegal orders.
- Capping international students' stays at four yearsRuled unlawful
A Homeland Security rule would have ended the decades-old practice of admitting international students for as long as their studies last, replacing it with fixed stays of up to four years. A federal judge blocked it the day before it was to take effect.
- 'Give it up or go to jail': going after reporters' sourcesPending
Trump threatened to jail a reporter who would not name the source for a story about a downed U.S. airman in Iran, and his Justice Department has subpoenaed a New York Times freelancer to testify about his sources for another story.
- Taking over the U.S. Institute of Peace, then putting his name on itMixed rulings
In March 2025 the administration fired most of the board of the U.S. Institute of Peace, an independent nonprofit that Congress created in 1984, and a DOGE team took over its Washington headquarters with the help of law enforcement officers.
- Removing seven vaccines from the list recommended for all childrenRuled unlawful
On Jan. 5, 2026, the CDC removed seven vaccines from the list it recommends for every child, including the shots against hepatitis B, rotavirus and the flu, without first getting a recommendation from its vaccine advisory committee.
- Arresting immigrants at their immigration court hearingsRuled unlawful
In 2025, ICE agents began arresting people in the hallways of immigration courthouses as they left routine hearings, a practice the agency had long avoided out of concern it would discourage people from showing up to court.
- No bond hearings for immigrants who entered illegally, however long agoMixed rulings
Under a July 2025 memo, the administration treats anyone who crossed the border illegally as subject to mandatory detention with no bond hearing, no matter how long ago they came or whether they have applied for asylum.
- Ending FEMA's largest disaster-preparedness program without CongressRuled unlawful
In April 2025, FEMA ended Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC), its largest program for helping communities prepare for disasters before they strike, calling it wasteful and politicized.
- Stop-work orders for offshore wind farms already under constructionRuled unlawful
The Interior Department ordered construction halted on Empire Wind off New York in April 2025, on Revolution Wind off Rhode Island in August, and on Dec. 22, 2025, on all five offshore wind farms being built in federal waters, citing national security.
- Ending temporary protections for 350,000 Venezuelans, then Haitians and othersMixed rulings
Days into the term, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem cancelled a Biden-era extension of Temporary Protected Status for Venezuela and moved to end it for about 350,000 people, then set terminations for Haiti, Syria and other countries.
- Firing the Democrats on independent agencies, and winning at the Supreme CourtCriticized
Trump fired Democratic members of agencies Congress designed to be independent, including both Democratic commissioners of the Federal Trade Commission on March 18, 2025, despite laws that allowed removal only for cause.
- Invoking a 1798 wartime law to deport Venezuelans without hearingsMixed rulings
Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, declaring the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua an invading force so that its alleged members could be removed from the country with no immigration hearing.
- Waiving dozens of laws to wall off Big BendMixed rulings
Homeland Security waived dozens of environmental, historic preservation and land laws to build border barriers and roads across Texas's Big Bend region, later extending the waivers to the national park itself.
- Suing 30 states for their voters' private dataRuled unlawful
The Justice Department demanded complete voter registration lists, including birth dates, driver's license numbers and partial Social Security numbers, from nearly every state, then sued the states that refused, starting with Oregon and Maine in September 2025.
- An oil blockade to force a change of government in CubaAlleged
A Jan. 29 executive order threatened tariffs and sanctions on any country that sends oil to Cuba, choking off the island's fuel imports as Trump pushed openly for regime change.
- Criminal subpoenas for Minnesota's Democratic leadersRuled unlawful
Federal prosecutors served grand jury subpoenas on the offices of Gov. Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her, and Ramsey and Hennepin county officials.
- Firing court-picked prosecutors to keep his own picks in chargeRuled unlawful
When New Jersey's federal judges appointed a U.S. attorney in July 2025, after the legal time limit ran out for Trump's interim pick, his former personal lawyer Alina Habba, the Justice Department fired the court's choice and used a chain of maneuvers to keep Habba in charge.
- Tying a $20 billion lifeline to Argentina's electionCriticized
Treasury opened a $20 billion currency swap line for Argentina from its Exchange Stabilization Fund, and Trump said U.S. help depended on his ally Javier Milei's party winning the Oct. 26 midterm election.
- A $100,000 fee on new H-1B visasMixed rulings
By proclamation, Trump raised the cost of a new H-1B visa for skilled foreign workers from roughly $2,000 to $5,000 up to $100,000, then extended it for another year.
- Tying counterterrorism grants to election changesRuled unlawful
The administration tried to withhold 20% of states' federal counterterrorism grants unless states and certain cities changed how they run elections.
- Immigration agents shooting people in carsPending
An ICE agent in Austin shot DoorDash driver Wilber Rafael Garces Perez in the back during a traffic stop. He was moved from the hospital to a detention center with the bullet still in him, then charged with assault.
- Cancelling $7 billion in solar aid for low-income communitiesRuled unlawful
The EPA terminated the $7 billion Solar for All program, which Congress funded to lower electric bills and create jobs in underserved communities.
- Cutting FEMA's workforce in halfRuled unlawful
Homeland Security ordered a 50% cut to FEMA's workforce, including thousands of on-call disaster responders whose contracts weren't renewed in January 2026.
- Breaking ground on a 250-foot 'Triumphal Arch' without CongressPending
The administration announced excavation for a 250-foot arch at Memorial Circle, more than twice the height of the Lincoln Memorial, before the federal planning commission had given final approval.
- Pardons for donors and their familiesCriticized
A string of pardons went to people who, or whose relatives, gave big money to Trump or Republican causes.
New on the Watchlist
Developing stories with no ruling, official finding or documented harm yet.
- Federal 'citizen lists' for every state, possibly released before the voteDeveloping
Under Trump's March executive order, Homeland Security and Social Security are compiling lists of verified adult citizens in every state, and a Justice Department lawyer told a federal judge he could not say whether they will be released before the midterms.
- Won't rule out an emergency declaration before the midtermsDeveloping
Asked by Time magazine whether he would declare a state of emergency before the November midterms, Trump answered: 'I don't rule anything out or in.'
- A Pentagon religion office reporting straight to HegsethDeveloping
In his Sept. 30 address at Quantico, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth created an Office of Religious Affairs that reports directly to him, saying it would continue 'for secretaries of war after me.'
- Checks before the vote: $500 'refunds', $90 for seniors and a $5,000 promiseDeveloping
Weeks before the midterms, Treasury began mailing $500 checks, with a letter signed by Trump, to more than 950,000 people with Obamacare plans in 30 states. On Oct. 2 Trump announced $90 payments to more than 20 million Medicare enrollees, and he has promised every adult $5,000 if Republicans keep Congress.
- Cutting 20% of general and admiral posts after firing dozens of top officersDeveloping
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is cutting general and admiral positions by 20% by Jan. 1, 2027, doubling the cut he ordered in 2025.
- DOJ files misconduct complaint against nearly all of Minnesota's federal judgesDeveloping
The Justice Department accused all but one of Minnesota's active federal judges of misconduct for speaking to the New York Times about how Operation Metro Surge overwhelmed their court.
- Refusing to rule out troops or ICE at the pollsDeveloping
With the midterms weeks away, administration officials have repeatedly declined to rule out sending National Guard troops or federal agents to polling places.
- Third-term talkDeveloping
Trump keeps floating a third term, which the 22nd Amendment forbids, from saying there are methods to do it to promoting Trump 2028 merchandise.
- A 23,000-troop National Guard force for civil disturbancesDeveloping
Under an August 2025 executive order, every state's National Guard was told to stand up a quick reaction force trained in riot control, more than 23,000 troops in all, ready by Jan. 1, 2026.
- A 'new census' that would leave out undocumented immigrantsDeveloping
Trump ordered the Commerce Department to start work on a new census that excludes people without legal status, using information from the 2024 election.
Updated
Each shows where it stands now.
- Banned CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White HouseRuled unlawful
On Sept. 24, 2026, Trump-appointed Judge Timothy Kelly ordered the outlets' access restored, finding the ban likely unconstitutional because reporters got no due process. He rejected the national security rationale, noting Trump himself had cited the outlets' negativity. The order lasts 14 days while the case continues. The order covers the White House grounds only. Since then the White House has kept CNN off two presidential trips it was scheduled to cover for the TV pool, to Tennessee last weekend and to Texas and Oklahoma on Oct. 1, when no pool camera went along. The outlets have asked for a preliminary injunction that would keep the ban blocked for the length of the case and restore CNN's place in the TV pool. In a filing on Oct. 2, the Justice Department asked the judge to let the ban resume. Kelly will hear arguments on Oct. 8, the day his order expires.
- A second birthright citizenship order after losing at the Supreme CourtRuled unlawful
On Sept. 2, 2026, Judge Deborah Boardman in Maryland barred the government from enforcing the new order against the class of children covered by the earlier case, writing that it is 'almost certainly unconstitutional' as applied to them because the Supreme Court had already decided they are citizens at birth. The ruling is preliminary and does not block every part of the order. On Sept. 28, the ACLU and other groups filed a new class action in federal court in Washington for families in the newly targeted categories; the plaintiffs are two couples who work for international organizations and a couple expecting a child through a U.S. surrogate. There is no ruling in that case yet.
- Suing his own IRS, then settling for audit immunityRuled unlawful
In July 2026 Judge Kathleen Williams ruled the lawsuit a bad-faith attempt to manipulate the courts, barred anyone from relying on the settlement, ordered sanctions and referred Trump's lawyer to the Florida Bar. Trump and the Justice Department appealed. On Sept. 29, 2026, a three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit refused to put the sanctions on hold while the appeal continues, finding that Trump's side had not made a strong showing that her findings of collusion and bad faith were clearly wrong. That was a ruling on a request for a pause, not a final decision: the appeal itself is still pending, and the sanctions stay in force in the meantime.
- Supreme Court: his emergency tariffs were illegalRuled unlawful
Refund claims are working their way through the Court of International Trade and customs. The replacement tariff lost in court too. On May 7, 2026, the Court of International Trade ruled 2 to 1 that the 10% global tariff Trump imposed under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 exceeded his authority, because the deficits he cited were not the balance-of-payments deficits that law requires. The order covered only the three plaintiffs that import goods. The government appealed, and on May 12 the appeals court temporarily put the order on hold; we found no report of a final appeals ruling. The Section 122 tariff expired at its 150-day limit on July 24, 2026. The day before, the U.S. Trade Representative put new tariffs into effect under a third law, Section 301, and Oregon and other states have gone back to the trade court to challenge those, saying they mirror the expired tariff almost exactly.
- Border agents kill ICU nurse Alex PrettiPending
The Justice Department opened a civil rights investigation. The county's charging decision is pending and may fall to the next county attorney.
- An ICE agent kills Renee Good in MinneapolisPending
Minnesota sued for the evidence and received it in July 2026. Hennepin County prosecutors say they now have enough to make a charging decision; none has been announced. On Oct. 1, 2026, Good's family filed two civil lawsuits in federal court: one naming the United States as the only defendant, and one against eight individuals, including Ross, Stephen Miller, Kristi Noem and Greg Bovino. The suits allege wrongful death and a conspiracy to interfere with civil rights, and say Ross and other agents at the scene violated several of the Department of Homeland Security's own policies.
- 'SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!'Criticized
Sedition carries up to 20 years in prison, not death. No one has been charged. Federal prosecutors in Washington asked a grand jury to indict the six lawmakers, and on Feb. 10, 2026, the grand jury refused. Two days later a federal judge blocked the Pentagon's attempt to punish Kelly, finding it violated his First Amendment rights (see the entry on Kelly's censure).
- Asking his own Justice Department for $230 millionAlleged
Trump agreed to drop the claims. On May 18, 2026, the Justice Department announced a settlement of his separate $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS (Exhibit 91), and said that Trump and his legal team had also agreed to drop these claims and that he would receive no monetary payment or damages of any kind. The agreement gave them until June 15, 2026, to withdraw the claims. A federal judge later found that the IRS lawsuit had been brought for an improper purpose, and on Sept. 29 an appeals court refused to put her sanctions on hold while the appeal continues; the entry on the IRS lawsuit has the details. No payout has been reported in the coverage we found.
- Treating left-wing politics as terrorismAlleged
U.S. law has no mechanism for designating domestic groups as terrorist organizations, and antifa is a movement, not an organization. Civil liberties groups say the memo targets beliefs, not actions. The administration has since won convictions in the first terrorism case it tied to antifa: in March 2026 a federal jury in Texas found eight people guilty of providing material support to terrorists and other charges over a July 4, 2025 shooting that wounded a police officer outside the Prairieland immigration detention center, and one of them was convicted of attempted murder. The defendants denied any antifa affiliation and said they went to show support for the immigrants held inside. In June 2026 federal prosecutors charged 15 people with impeding the immigration crackdown in Minnesota, describing them as antifa members who conspired to block arrests and deportations. In that Minnesota case a defense lawyer has filed exhibits on how the Justice and Homeland Security departments put the memo into practice and has asked the judge to order the government to disclose more. In August 2026 civil liberties groups from across the political spectrum, including FIRE and the Cato Institute, filed a brief supporting that request. In the reporting we found, no court has ruled on the memo itself.
- Prosecuting the president's criticsMixed rulings
A judge threw out the Comey and James cases in November 2025 after ruling Halligan was unlawfully appointed; the administration appealed, and an appeals court heard arguments in September 2026. Prosecutors also tried twice to get a new indictment of James, and grand juries in Norfolk and Alexandria declined both times. In April 2026 Comey was indicted again, in North Carolina, on charges that an Instagram photo of seashells spelling out '86 47' threatened the president. His motions to dismiss it as vindictive are pending, and his arraignment has been pushed to January 2027. Bolton's case was different in kind: he pleaded guilty in June 2026 to illegally keeping classified material. A separate Justice Department investigation in the Southern District of Florida, known as the 'grand conspiracy' probe and aimed at people NBC News describes as Trump's perceived political enemies, has produced no charges. Its leader, Joe diGenova, resigned in September 2026. NBC reported that department leaders felt it was moving too slowly and that it is expected to continue, with prosecutors seeking grand jury testimony from former officials.
- The FCC chair leans on ABC, and Kimmel goes darkPending
In April 2026 the FCC ordered an early review of all eight broadcast licenses held by ABC-owned stations, years before they expire and the first early review it had ordered in more than 50 years, citing the network's diversity and inclusion practices. On Aug. 18, 2026, ABC, its parent company Disney and the eight stations sued the FCC in federal court in Washington on First Amendment grounds, calling the review retaliation for their speech and quoting Carr's remark about Kimmel. On Sept. 3 the FCC asked U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan to throw the lawsuit out, arguing that it would hobble the agency's investigation into allegations of unlawful discrimination at Disney and that the case belongs in a federal appeals court. A hearing is set for Oct. 6, and the FCC has agreed to give at least 48 hours' notice before sending the licenses to a hearing. No ruling yet. Republican Sen. Ted Cruz compared Carr's comments to a mafioso's and called them dangerous.
- Operation Midway Blitz in ChicagoMixed rulings
Journalists and protesters sued, saying agents violated their First and Fourth Amendment rights with tear gas, pepper balls and batons, and U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis issued a preliminary injunction limiting agents' use of force. In March 2026 a panel of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals vacated that injunction 2 to 1, calling it 'constitutionally suspect'; by then the plaintiffs had asked to end the case and Ellis had dismissed it. No one has been charged over Villegas González's death: the Department of Homeland Security has said federal prosecutors declined to charge the officer who shot him, and the FBI will not discuss its investigation. The Illinois State Police opened their own investigation in spring 2026 and plan to turn it over to Cook County prosecutors when it is finished. On May 21, 2026, a Cook County judge refused to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate alleged abuses by federal agents during the operation. In early July 2026 lawyers filed five civil lawsuits in federal court in Illinois seeking to hold agents accountable; the complaints do not yet name the agents. Of more than two dozen protest-related arrests, none reached trial and at least nine were dropped.
- Took a luxury 747 from Qatar's royal familyAlleged
Congress has not consented. Lawsuits over emoluments in his first term ended as moot once he left office. On Oct. 2, 2026, Law360 reported that a press freedom organization is trying again to force the Justice Department to release the legal opinion, signed by then-Attorney General Pam Bondi, that allowed Trump to accept the jet.
- Disaster aid slowed, denied and split along party linesAlleged
The Brennan Center calls the FEMA cuts arbitrary and unlawful. In a separate lawsuit by 20 states, Judge Richard Stearns in Massachusetts ruled on Dec. 11, 2025, that FEMA's cancellation of a disaster-preparedness grant program, Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC), was unlawful, though he stopped short of ordering money released for specific projects. That ruling now has its own entry (Exhibit 113). In late May 2026 two House Democrats, Bennie Thompson and Timothy Kennedy, asked the Government Accountability Office to examine the criteria FEMA uses in recommending disaster declarations; the office confirmed it had received the request. No court has ruled on whether the disaster denials were political.
- Dismantling USAID, an agency Congress createdMixed rulings
On March 18, 2025, U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang in Maryland ruled that the dismantling likely violated the Constitution, found that the agency had been effectively eliminated, and blocked Musk's team from further cuts. Ten days later, on March 28, a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals lifted that order, at least for now. It found the evidence did not show Musk was the one giving the orders, since the cuts were approved by government officials, and suggested a separation-of-powers challenge should be aimed at the administration itself. The employees' lawsuit continues before Judge Chuang, who refused to dismiss it. In February 2026 he ordered Musk and two former USAID officials, Peter Marocco and Jeremy Lewin, to answer questions under oath, saying there was no alternative because the employees had been unable to get the information from documents or lower-ranking officials. On March 4, 2026, a 4th Circuit panel blocked those depositions for now, 2 to 1. The majority wrote that questioning high-ranking officials is a last resort and that the judge was wrong to find there were no alternatives. The death figures are projections (the authors' range runs from about 8 to 19 million), not counts.
- DOGE gets into Americans' Social Security recordsMixed rulings
A Maryland judge blocked the access as a likely Privacy Act violation, writing that DOGE never gave a single reason it needed everything. The Supreme Court lifted that block in June 2025, over three dissents. On April 10, 2026, the full 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the Maryland judge's injunction and sent the case back to her, with a majority deferring to the Supreme Court's order. The majority opinion found that the unions have standing to sue, and the lower court could still order DOGE employees to destroy any illegally obtained data. On Sept. 29, 2026, the Government Accountability Office reported on DOGE teams at six other agencies (the CFPB, Education, NOAA, the SEC, the SBA and the VA). Four of them reported that the teams had access to more than 23 systems, which held sensitive information including personal data; the SBA and the VA did not say which systems their teams could reach. The GAO said it could not determine what the teams were allowed to do in those systems, and that without the records it asked for, Congress and the public lack assurance the information was properly secured. The review did not include the Social Security Administration.
- Cancelled nearly $1 billion Congress approved, with no voteOfficial finding
On Sept. 29, 2026, the Government Accountability Office ruled that the move violated the Impoundment Control Act: proposing to cancel money does not let a president hold it past the end of the fiscal year. Federal News Network counts it as the administration's 12th impoundment violation found by GAO. Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins, a Republican, also called it unlawful and said the budget office withheld the money for months to set up the cancellation. On Sept. 30, 2026, California and six other states sued in federal court in San Francisco over the withheld money, including about $810 million the White House moved to cancel by Reuters's count, arguing that refusing to spend it violates the Constitution's separation of powers.
- Taxpayer-funded TV ads praising Trump before the midtermsAlleged
Public Citizen filed a complaint with GAO, the watchdog group CREW asked Homeland Security's inspector general to investigate, and top Democratic appropriators demanded the ads come off the air. Republicans have objected too: Senate Majority Leader John Thune said the ads shouldn't be paid for with taxpayer money, and Sen. Thom Tillis compared them to the advertising of Hungary's former leader Viktor Orban. Experts say they differ from past public-service campaigns because they don't point viewers to any government program. GAO hasn't ruled.
- Admitted in court: clean-energy money cut because states voted blueRuled unlawful
On Jan. 12, 2026, Judge Amit Mehta of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that cancelling grants only in Democratic-voting states violated the Fifth Amendment's guarantee of equal protection. His ruling threw out the terminations of the seven grants at issue in that lawsuit, brought by the city of St. Paul and clean-energy groups; it did not address the rest. In June 2026 a settlement in a second case, also signed by Mehta, restored 11 more. Broader challenges by a coalition of states and by the University of California researchers are pending, and as of June hundreds of awards remained terminated.
- A war with Iran that Congress never approvedPending
On Sept. 24, 2026, the advocacy group NIAC Action sued in federal court in Washington, asking a judge to declare the war unconstitutional without Congress's approval. There is no ruling yet, and courts have often dismissed war-powers lawsuits before reaching the merits. Congress has voted repeatedly: as of that date the House had approved three of six war-powers resolutions and the Senate two of 14. In June both chambers adopted one directing the president to remove U.S. forces from hostilities with Iran (the House on June 3, the Senate 50 to 48 on June 23), but the operations continued; such resolutions carry little legal weight. Legal scholars argue the war violates the Constitution, the UN Charter and the War Powers Resolution's 60-day limit. UN investigators keep documenting U.S. strikes that kill civilians, including at a wedding in September. As of late September, the U.S. naval blockade continues, an Iranian missile injured eight Marines on Sept. 14, and Trump rejected Iran's latest proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
- A secret $500 million stake from a UAE spy chief, then AI chipsAlleged
No ruling. On Feb. 5, 2026, Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna opened an inquiry into the deal and wrote to World Liberty Financial asking for information about the $500 million investment. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Elissa Slotkin called for conflict-of-interest investigations.
- Epstein files: late, blacked out, and victims exposedAlleged
Two watchdogs are reviewing the release, and neither has reported yet. In April 2026 the Justice Department's inspector general opened a review of whether the department properly identified, redacted and released the records, and said it will publish its findings. The Government Accountability Office then agreed to its own review at the request of a bipartisan group of senators. Bipartisan critics, led by Republican Rep. Thomas Massie, say DOJ didn't comply with the law. Trump appears throughout the files; he has not been charged with any crime and denies involvement in Epstein's crimes.
- Seizing oil tankers: 'We keep it, I guess'Pending
In February 2026 the Justice Department filed a complaint in federal court in Washington to take permanent ownership of the first seized tanker, the Skipper, and nearly 2 million barrels of oil. A judge must sign off before the oil can be sold. It was the first such complaint for any of at least 10 tankers intercepted since late 2025.
- Letting food aid lapse for 42 million peopleMixed rulings
An appeals court ruled unanimously that full payment could be required. Justice Jackson temporarily paused the full-payment order while appeals played out, and on Nov. 11, 2025, the full court extended the pause over her objection. The fight ended without a final ruling: the bill that ended the shutdown funded SNAP in full through the end of the fiscal year, and on Nov. 13 the administration withdrew its Supreme Court request as moot.
- More than 170 U.S. citizens held by immigration agentsAlleged
On Dec. 9, 2025, Senate Democrats led by Sen. Richard Blumenthal published a report, based on interviews with nearly two dozen citizens, that concluded immigration agents have frequently detained and mistreated Americans; one was held for four days. It is a report by one party's senators, not an official finding. The Supreme Court had earlier allowed agents in the Los Angeles area to consider factors including race.
- Firing every vaccine adviser and the CDC directorCriticized
On March 16, 2026, Judge Brian Murphy found that Kennedy's remaking of the vaccine committee likely violated federal law. He put the appointments of 13 of the new members on hold, along with the votes the remade panel had taken (see the entry on the childhood vaccine schedule). The ruling is preliminary and the government has appealed. The firings also drew bipartisan concern at Senate hearings.
- Tried to fire a Federal Reserve governorRuled unlawful
In September 2025 Judge Jia Cobb ruled that the firing likely violated the Federal Reserve Act, because the allegations concern conduct from before Cook joined the Fed, and her right to due process, because she got no notice or chance to respond. She ordered that Cook stay on the board, and an appeals court left that order in place. On June 29, 2026, the Supreme Court ruled 5 to 4 that Cook stays while her case continues, finding she had not been given notice and a chance to respond before she was fired. These rulings are not final. They keep Cook in office while her lawsuit continues, and the Supreme Court did not decide whether the president has cause to remove her. On Aug. 5, 2026, the White House sent Cook a letter saying Trump was considering removing her over the same allegations and giving her until Aug. 26 to respond. She responded, and as of Oct. 1 the White House had not said publicly what it will do. Her lawsuit is still before Judge Cobb. The same day as its Cook ruling, the Supreme Court allowed the firing of FTC commissioner Rebecca Slaughter in a separate case.
- Ordering up a mid-decade gerrymanderMixed rulings
A federal panel, in an opinion by a Trump-appointed judge, found substantial evidence of racial gerrymandering and blocked the map in November 2025. On Dec. 4, 2025, the Supreme Court put that ruling on hold over three dissents, so the map is in use for the 2026 midterms, and on April 27, 2026, it reversed the panel's decision outright in a brief order. The challengers' other claims against the map have not been fully litigated.
- Cancelling research on minority and LGBTQ healthMixed rulings
Reagan-appointed Judge William Young ruled the cuts void and illegal and said that in 40 years on the bench he had never seen government racial discrimination like it. In August 2025 the Supreme Court, 5 to 4, put on hold his order to restore the grants, saying such claims likely belong in the Court of Federal Claims, while a separate majority left in place his ruling against the guidance behind the cuts. STAT reported that NIH had by then restored more than 2,000 terminated grants and did not reverse course afterward. As of early 2026, the question of whether researchers must take their claims to the claims court was before the First Circuit Court of Appeals.
- Hundreds killed seeking food at U.S.-backed aid sitesAlleged
The UN called the model inherently unsafe and demanded an independent investigation. Major aid groups refused to work with it. In May 2026 the Financial Times reported, citing three people familiar with the inquiry, that the State Department's inspector general is investigating how the foundation spent a $30 million U.S. grant; the office would neither confirm nor deny an investigation. The foundation suspended operations in October 2025 and is now defunct.
- A meme-coin dinner and family crypto deals while in officeAlleged
No charges. A former White House ethics lawyer says federal conflict-of-interest law would bar any other executive branch official from doing this.
- Deporting American childrenPending
On July 31, 2025, the two families sued the federal government in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana, asking for the removals to be found unlawful, for their return to the United States, and for damages. No ruling has been reported. Earlier, Trump-appointed Judge Terry Doughty wrote that it is illegal and unconstitutional to deport a U.S. citizen, and that he strongly suspected the government had done so without meaningful process.
- Banned the AP over 'Gulf of America'Pending
On April 8, 2025, a district judge ruled the ban unconstitutional and ordered the AP's access restored. On June 6, 2025, a panel of the D.C. Circuit put that order partly on hold, 2 to 1, while the appeal continues, letting the White House keep the AP out of the Oval Office and other restricted spaces for now. The two judges in the majority wrote that the White House is likely to win because those spaces are not forums opened for private speech. The case is still going.
- Dropped the corruption case against NYC's mayor, and prosecutors quitAlleged
On April 2, 2025, Judge Dale Ho dismissed the case permanently, so the charges can never be refiled, saying he could not force the department to prosecute. He rejected the department's stated reasons and wrote that 'everything here smacks of a bargain': dismissal in exchange for immigration policy concessions. He said his ruling was not an opinion on the allegations against the mayor. Both Adams and Bove denied in court that there was any deal.
- An executive order to control who can vote by mailRuled unlawful
A federal judge declared the core provisions unconstitutional in June 2026. The Supreme Court sided with the administration on Aug. 24 on narrow standing grounds in the states' case, but on Sept. 14 it voted 7 to 2 to keep the Postal Service rules blocked for the 2026 election, saying the government was unlikely to succeed. Mail voting this November works as it always has. Separately, a judge ruled in June that the citizenship database built under the order violated federal privacy laws; on Sept. 25 the Supreme Court let the government keep using it while that case continues.
- Put his name on the Kennedy Center, then moved to close itRuled unlawful
Judge Christopher Cooper ruled in May 2026 that only Congress can rename it, ordered the name removed and blocked the planned July closure. On Sept. 15 he barred putting Trump's name back on the building or the plaza in any form. After the abrupt closure, he ordered the center to give 30 days' notice before any major physical change, including demolition. The Justice Department is appealing.
- Blowing up boats, and the survivorsAlleged
Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and UN experts call the strikes extrajudicial killings, and military law experts say killing shipwreck survivors breaks the laws of war. In September, UN special rapporteur Ben Saul wrote that there are reasonable grounds to believe the strikes amount to crimes against humanity. In May 2026 the Pentagon's inspector general opened an investigation into how strike targets are chosen, approved and assessed. Relatives of two Trinidadian men killed in an October 2025 strike have sued for wrongful death. In a bipartisan defense bill, Congress withheld part of Hegseth's travel budget until unedited strike video is handed over. On Sept. 30, 2026, Judge Paul Engelmayer rejected most of the administration's reasons for keeping secret the 40-page Justice Department memo it cites as the legal basis for the strikes, finding the Pentagon has treated the memo as its effective law, and ordered it turned over for his private review by Oct. 14.
- FBI seizes 2020 ballots in GeorgiaPending
In May 2026 Judge J.P. Boulee refused to order the ballots returned while the investigation continues, though he criticized how the FBI obtained them and wrote that the seizure was not perfect. In April the Justice Department also subpoenaed the names and contact information of county employees and volunteers who worked the 2020 election.
- A criminal investigation of the Fed chairRuled unlawful
In March 2026 Judge James Boasberg quashed the subpoenas, writing that the government had produced essentially no evidence of a crime and that its reasons were a pretext to pressure Powell into cutting rates. He refused to revive them, and the Justice Department closed the investigation and referred the matter to the Fed's inspector general. On Sept. 30 the inspector general found management failures behind a roughly $1 billion cost overrun, but no grounds for a criminal referral and no administrative misconduct. Trump responded by calling on Powell to resign from the Fed board and asking the attorney general to study the report.
- Seized another country's presidentAlleged
Maduro pleaded not guilty to narco-terrorism charges, and a judge set his trial for June 1, 2027. His lawyers are seeking dismissal on head-of-state immunity grounds, with arguments set for November. Legal experts widely questioned whether the operation was lawful under international law.
- Demolished the East Wing for a donor-funded ballroomRuled unlawful
Judge Richard Leon ruled in March 2026 that the preservation group was likely to prove the ballroom needs Congress's approval, and ordered above-ground construction stopped until Congress authorizes it while letting bunker and safety work continue. He later rejected the national security argument, and an appeals court upheld his order. On Aug. 31 the Supreme Court, 5 to 4, let construction resume, finding the National Trust for Historic Preservation likely lacks standing to sue. It did not decide whether the ballroom is legal, and the lawsuit continues.
- Suing the Wall Street Journal over an Epstein birthday letterPending
Judge Darrin Gayles dismissed the suit in April 2026, finding Trump hadn't plausibly alleged actual malice, the legal standard public figures must meet; he did not decide whether the letter is genuine. Trump refiled in May, again seeking at least $10 billion, and the case is pending.
- Fired the prosecutor who convicted Ghislaine MaxwellPending
In April 2026 Judge Jesse Furman let her lawsuit go forward in federal court, rejecting the Justice Department's bid to send it to an administrative board, and noted that the only reason given for the firing was the president's Article II power. In September she asked the court to rule the firing unlawful.
- Handcuffing and charging Democratic officialsPending
In August 2026 a divided appeals court panel ruled that the oversight visit doesn't shield McIver from prosecution, clearing the way for trial on at least two of the three charges, which carry up to 17 years. Democrats call the arrests intimidation of elected officials doing oversight.
- Deporting people to countries they've never lived inMixed rulings
A judge found the original South Sudan transfer violated his order. The Supreme Court, 6 to 3, then allowed third-country deportations to resume. On Sept. 29, 2026, after an appeals court upheld a new block citing the law against deporting people to countries where they would likely face persecution, the Supreme Court again let the deportations continue, 6 to 3, and agreed to hear the case this term.
- Food recalls up as FDA oversight shrinksMeasured trend
It's a clear rise, not an all-time record by every measure. Food safety experts say reduced oversight is the worry.
- Record deaths in ICE detentionCriticized
No ruling. The offices that normally investigate deaths in custody have been cut.
From the change log
- Correction: the entry on Trump's lawsuit against the IRS said an appeals court panel had upheld the judge's findings of collusion and bad faith, and the sanctions. That overstated it. On Sept. 29, 2026, the 11th Circuit panel refused to put the sanctions on hold while the appeal continues, finding that Trump's side had not made a strong showing that the findings were clearly wrong. The appeal itself has not been decided. The entry on Trump's $230 million claims, which described the same ruling, was fixed too. Status unchanged (Ruled unlawful).
- Correction: the entry on the Supreme Court's tariff ruling said only that the replacement tariff faced a legal challenge. It was missing a ruling: on May 7, 2026, the Court of International Trade held 2 to 1 that the 10% global tariff imposed under Section 122 was also unlawful, in an order limited to the three plaintiffs that import goods. The entry now includes that ruling, the appeal, the tariff's expiration on July 24, 2026, and the states' new challenge to the Section 301 tariffs that replaced it. Status unchanged (Ruled unlawful).
- Correction: the entry on Trump's 'seditious behavior' post said only that no charges had been reported. It now says that federal prosecutors asked a grand jury to indict the six lawmakers and that the grand jury refused on Feb. 10, 2026. Status unchanged (Criticized).
- New in The Record, filling a gap: censuring Sen. Mark Kelly and moving to demote him over the 'illegal orders' video (Ruled unlawful). On Feb. 12, 2026, Judge Richard Leon blocked the punishment, writing that Pentagon officials had trampled on Kelly's First Amendment freedoms. The ruling is preliminary and is on appeal.
- New in The Record: deporting young asylum seekers protected by a court settlement (Ruled unlawful). On Sept. 25, 2026, Judge Stephanie Gallagher found the administration in contempt for deporting a 19-year-old to El Salvador a second time, in violation of three court orders, and ordered him brought back.
- New in The Record, filling a gap: closing the southern border to asylum by proclamation (Ruled unlawful). Judge Randolph Moss ruled the day-one policy unlawful in July 2025, and a divided appeals court upheld him on April 24, 2026. That ruling is on hold, and the administration has asked the Supreme Court to take the case.
- New in The Record: the felony case against a former Olympian over damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool (Criticized). Prosecutors dropped it on July 31, 2026, saying the damage could not be shown to be vandalism, and on Oct. 1 a judge barred them from refiling, writing that the president had pressed prosecutors to change course. The judge dismissed the case; he did not rule the prosecution unlawful.
- Updated: the entry on the second birthright citizenship order now shows its exact date (Aug. 6, 2026), says what the order does, and adds the class action filed on Sept. 28 for families in the newly targeted categories. It also makes clear that the Sept. 2 ruling protects the class of children from the earlier case and does not block every part of the order. Status unchanged (Ruled unlawful).
- Updated: the entry on arrests at immigration courts now says more plainly how far the final New York ruling reaches. Gothamist reports that it vacated the policy for immigration courthouses, in New York City and across the country, while some coverage describes it in terms of New York's courts. The entry also adds a separate final ruling on conditions in ICE's holding rooms at 26 Federal Plaza. Status unchanged (Ruled unlawful).
- Updated: the entry on immigration agents shooting people in cars now includes a Sept. 30 ICE memo, obtained by the AP, that bars officers from chasing vehicles that fail to pull over and limits vehicle stops to officers with specific training. Status unchanged (Pending).
- Updated: the entry on no-bond detention now gives the count of appeals courts: nine have ruled against the policy and two have upheld it, according to Stateline. Status unchanged (Mixed rulings).
- Updated: the entry on the White House ban on CNN, MS NOW and Politico now includes the Justice Department's Oct. 2 filing asking the judge to let the ban resume, and the hearing set for Oct. 8, the day the current order expires. Status unchanged (Ruled unlawful).
- Updated: the entry on prosecuting the president's critics now notes a separate Justice Department investigation in Florida, known as the 'grand conspiracy' probe, whose leader resigned in September 2026 without charging anyone. Status unchanged (Mixed rulings).
- Updated: the entry on the FCC chair and Jimmy Kimmel now gives the date of the court hearing in ABC's lawsuit, Oct. 6.
- Updated the Watchlist entry on the Pentagon religion office: legal experts told HuffPost that Hegseth likely has the authority to create the office and that the constitutional question is how it will be used.
- Updated the Watchlist entry on troops or ICE at the polls: on Sept. 28 Hegseth directed the military to defend the midterms from foreign interference, in a memo that HuffPost reported puts cyber and intelligence capabilities first.
- Updated the Watchlist entry on a new census: public comments on the proposed rule are due Oct. 13, 2026.
- New in The Record: capping international students' stays at four years (Ruled unlawful). A Homeland Security rule published on July 17, 2026 would have ended admission for the length of a student's program. On Sept. 14, 2026, the day before it was to take effect, Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV postponed it nationwide, writing that its adoption clearly failed to comply with federal administrative law. The ruling is preliminary.
- Correction: the entry on DOGE and Social Security records was missing a court ruling. On April 10, 2026, the full 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the injunction that had blocked DOGE's access, deferring to the Supreme Court's June 2025 order, and sent the case back to the trial judge. Status unchanged (Mixed rulings).
- Correction: the entry on Trump's $230 million claims against his own Justice Department said only that no payout had been confirmed. It now says that Trump agreed to drop the claims in the May 18, 2026 settlement of his separate lawsuit against the IRS, and that the Justice Department said he would receive no money. Status unchanged (Alleged).
- Updated: the entry on dismantling USAID now follows the employees' lawsuit into 2026. Judge Theodore Chuang refused to dismiss it and in February ordered Elon Musk and two former USAID officials to testify under oath; on March 4 an appeals panel blocked those depositions for now, 2 to 1. Status unchanged (Mixed rulings).
- Updated: the entry on Operation Midway Blitz in Chicago now says where the Villegas González case stands. Homeland Security says federal prosecutors declined to charge the officer, the Illinois State Police opened their own investigation, a Cook County judge refused on May 21, 2026 to appoint a special prosecutor, and five civil lawsuits were filed in federal court. Status unchanged (Mixed rulings).
- Updated: the entry on the FCC chair and Jimmy Kimmel now includes the FCC's Sept. 3 request that the judge dismiss ABC's lawsuit, a hearing set for the first week of October, and the FCC's agreement to give 48 hours' notice before sending ABC's licenses to a hearing. Status unchanged (Pending).
- Updated: the entry on the jet from Qatar now says that Trump took the plane out of service for more upgrades in July 2026, after the Secret Service reportedly advised against using it abroad, and that a press freedom group is again seeking the Justice Department legal opinion that approved the gift. Status unchanged (Alleged).
- Updated: the entry on disaster aid now notes that two House Democrats asked the Government Accountability Office in May 2026 to examine how disaster declarations are decided. It is a request from one party's lawmakers, not a finding. Status unchanged (Alleged).
- Updated: the entry on the antifa designation and NSPM-7 now notes that in the Minnesota prosecution a defense lawyer has asked the judge to order the government to disclose how the memo was put into practice, and that civil liberties groups from across the political spectrum filed a brief in support in August 2026. Status unchanged (Alleged).
- Updated: the entry on the killing of Renee Good now includes the two civil lawsuits her family filed in federal court on Oct. 1, 2026, one against the United States and one against eight individuals, including the agent who shot her. No criminal charging decision has been announced. Status unchanged (Pending).
- Updated: the entry on the Cuba oil blockade now includes the Coast Guard's Oct. 2 announcement that it seized two ships carrying fuel bound for Cuba, one in June and one in September. Status unchanged (Alleged).
- Updated: the entry on the killing of Alex Pretti now says Hennepin County has charged two ICE agents over non-fatal incidents during the Minnesota surge, up from one. No charging decision in Pretti's death has been announced. Status unchanged (Pending).
- Updated the Watchlist entry on pre-election checks: the expert the AP quoted about the Medicare fund is now named (Larry Levitt of KFF). The entry also adds that seniors in Medicare Advantage plans are not eligible for the $90 payment, and that the AP reported the $5,000 pledge would need approval from Congress and would likely cost more than $1 trillion.
- The Since your last visit button is easier to spot. Its count now sits in a gold badge, its outline is heavier, and a soft gold glow stays around it. A gold ring also pulses around it slowly twice the first time it scrolls into view, then stops. The pulse is off for visitors whose devices are set to reduce motion.
- Correction: the entry on the attempt to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook was stamped Mixed rulings because of a separate Supreme Court ruling that allowed the firing of FTC commissioner Rebecca Slaughter, which now has its own entry. Every ruling about Cook herself has gone against the administration: a district judge found her firing likely unlawful in September 2025, an appeals court left that order in place, and on June 29, 2026, the Supreme Court let her stay while her case continues. Status changed from Mixed rulings to Ruled unlawful. The rulings are not final, and the entry now says so.
- New in The Record: arresting immigrants at their immigration court hearings (Ruled unlawful). In June 2026 Judge P. Casey Pitts struck down ICE's courthouse-arrest policies nationwide, and in a final ruling reported on Oct. 1 Judge P. Kevin Castel in Manhattan found the practice arbitrary and capricious.
- New in The Record: removing seven vaccines from the list recommended for all children (Ruled unlawful). On March 16, 2026, Judge Brian Murphy put the January changes and the appointments to the remade vaccine advisory panel on hold as likely violations of federal law. The government has appealed, and the appeal is reported to be set for argument on Oct. 6.
- Correction: the entry on the firing of the CDC's vaccine advisers and director said there was no court case. It now includes Judge Murphy's March 16, 2026 ruling that the remaking of the vaccine committee likely violated federal law. Status unchanged (Criticized); the ruling is covered in full in the new entry on the childhood vaccine schedule.
- New in The Record, filling a gap: the takeover of the U.S. Institute of Peace (Mixed rulings). Judge Beryl Howell ruled it unlawful in May 2025, an appeals court put her ruling on hold, and on Sept. 30, 2026 the same court barred the government from carving Trump's name into the building while the case continues.
- Updated: the entry on the cancelled $1 billion now includes the lawsuit California and six other states filed on Sept. 30. Status unchanged (Official finding).
- Updated: the entry on the family crypto business now includes the conditional federal bank charter approved for World Liberty's trust company on Aug. 14, 2026. Status unchanged (Alleged).
- Correction: the Watchlist entry on the complaint against Minnesota's federal judges called Patrick Schiltz the chief judge. He held that post until recently, and the entry now says so.
- Moved from the Watchlist to The Record: going after reporters' sources (Pending). The Watchlist entry was waiting to see whether any journalist would be subpoenaed to testify. One had been: a grand jury subpoena for New York Times freelancer Matthew Cole, delivered in February 2026 and made public on Aug. 1, which he is contesting in federal court. It was missed when the Watchlist entry was created.
- Correction: the Watchlist entry on a new census said no detailed plan had been released. On Sept. 9, 2026, the Census Bureau proposed a rule that would leave undocumented immigrants and others without permanent legal status out of the count used to divide House seats after the 2030 census. The entry now describes the proposal and watches for a final rule and any court challenge.
- Updated the Watchlist entry on cutting general and admiral posts: the cut covers about 170 positions, senators who focus on defense gave it a cool reception, and the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee says Congress has to be consulted.
- Updated the Watchlist entry on the Pentagon religion office: Democratic lawmakers and church-state groups call it a violation of the First Amendment, and the Catholic Archdiocese for the Military Services welcomed it.
- Updated the Watchlist entry on federal citizen lists: both sides have filed their final briefs in the privacy group's lawsuit, and the judge has not yet ruled.
- Updated the Watchlist entry on pre-election checks: Democrats have questioned whether the $90 Medicare payments are legal, the White House has not said what legal authority it is relying on, and one expert told the AP the law behind the fund gives the administration wide discretion.
- Correction: the entry on the Texas mid-decade map stopped at the Supreme Court's December 2025 order letting the map be used. It now adds that on April 27, 2026, the court reversed the lower court's ruling outright. Status unchanged (Mixed rulings).
- Updated: the entry on the attempt to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook now includes the White House's Aug. 5, 2026 letter saying Trump is again considering removing her, sent after the Supreme Court said she was owed notice and a chance to respond. As of Oct. 1 no decision had been announced.
- Updated: the entry on cancelled NIH research grants now says the Supreme Court left in place the ruling against the guidance behind the cuts, and that NIH restored more than 2,000 grants and did not reverse course. Status unchanged (Mixed rulings).
- Updated: the entry on prosecuting the president's critics now notes that grand juries twice declined to indict Letitia James again after her case was dismissed. Status unchanged (Mixed rulings).
- Updated: the entry on immigration agents shooting people in cars now notes that a judge temporarily halted the deportation of the man shot in Austin, and that Austin police say federal investigators have not shared the evidence they asked for. Status unchanged (Pending).
- Updated: the entry on taxpayer-funded ads now notes that the watchdog group CREW asked Homeland Security's inspector general to investigate. Status unchanged (Alleged).
- Updated: the entry on the lapse in food aid now says how the court fight ended. The bill that ended the shutdown funded SNAP in full, and on Nov. 13, 2025, the administration withdrew its Supreme Court request as moot. Status unchanged (Mixed rulings).
- New in The Record: no bond hearings for immigrants who entered illegally, however long ago (Mixed rulings). Appeals courts have split on the July 2025 policy, and on Oct. 1, 2026 the Supreme Court agreed to decide it.
- Updated: the entry on DOGE and Social Security records now includes a Sept. 29, 2026 Government Accountability Office report on DOGE teams at six other agencies, which said Congress and the public lack assurance that those agencies' data was properly secured. Status unchanged (Mixed rulings).
- Updated the Watchlist entry on troops or ICE at the polls: Attorney General Todd Blanche said on Oct. 4 that it is false that the Justice Department's election monitors will be armed.
- Updated the Watchlist entry on pre-election checks: Trump announced $90 Medicare payments to more than 20 million seniors, to be paid from a fund Congress created in 2008; whether he has the authority to divert it is unclear.
- Every entry now has its own page at unredactedrecord.com/e/ followed by its id, with its own headline and status in link previews. Each headline on the timeline links to it, and Copy link and Share now give that page and come first on each entry; older links ending in #e- still work. If an entry is ever moved or removed, its old link forwards to the new entry or says why it was removed.
- Fixed: for 18 entries marked as dated to the month only, the version of the page shown to search engines and readers without JavaScript displayed a specific day; it now shows the month only, as the interactive page always did. Copy buttons now confirm when they have copied, printing from dark mode no longer leaves some text too pale to read, and a mistyped address now shows a not-found page.
- Returning visitors now see a chip showing how many entries were added or updated since their last visit, and can filter to them. The last visit is remembered only in the visitor's own browser.
- Added an RSS feed of new entries, updates and this change log (unredactedrecord.com/feed.xml), and a page listing what changed in the past seven days with text ready to paste into a post (unredactedrecord.com/this-week/).
- Added a data download in the footer: the whole record as a CSV file for Excel or a JSON file, with each entry's number, date, topic, status, last-checked date, full text (what happened, where it stands, the administration's side), sources and a link to its page.
- Three entries now show their exact date instead of the month only, after the dates were confirmed: the attempt to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook (Aug 25, 2025), the deportations to South Sudan (Jul 4, 2025) and the Kennedy Center board's vote to add Trump's name (Dec 18, 2025). Nothing else in those entries changed.
- Correction: the entry on clean-energy grants cancelled in Democratic-voting states was missing a court ruling and the administration's defense. It now includes Judge Amit Mehta's Jan. 12, 2026 ruling that cancelling grants only in those states violated the Fifth Amendment, a June 2026 settlement that restored more grants, the Energy Department's statements that no termination was political, and the Aug. 4 referral of Secretary Wright to the Justice Department. Its status changed from Pending to Ruled unlawful, and its date is now July 15, 2026, the day the court filing became public.
- Correction: the entry on dismantling USAID was missing two court rulings. It now includes Judge Theodore Chuang's March 18, 2025 ruling that the dismantling likely violated the Constitution and the 4th Circuit's March 28, 2025 order lifting it. Status changed from Alleged to Mixed rulings.
- Correction: the entry on Operation Midway Blitz in Chicago was missing two court rulings. It now includes Judge Sara Ellis's injunction limiting agents' use of force and the 7th Circuit's 2 to 1 decision in March 2026 vacating it. Status changed from Alleged to Mixed rulings.
- Correction: the entry on the dropped case against New York's mayor said no court had ruled on whether there was a deal. It now includes Judge Dale Ho's April 2025 ruling, which dismissed the case permanently and said the request looked like a bargain for immigration policy concessions. Status unchanged (Alleged).
- Updated: the entry on disaster aid now notes a December 2025 ruling that FEMA unlawfully cancelled a disaster-preparedness grant program (BRIC). Status unchanged (Alleged), because no court has ruled on the disaster denials the entry is about.
- Correction: the entry on the Iran war said Congress had rejected nine war-powers resolutions by May and stopped there. It now says that both chambers adopted a resolution in June 2026 directing the president to remove U.S. forces (the House on June 3, the Senate 50 to 48 on June 23), that the operations continued, and that a lawsuit asking a court to declare the war unconstitutional was filed on Sept. 24, 2026. Status changed from Alleged to Pending.
- Correction: the entry on the Alien Enemies Act said no court had settled whether the invocation was lawful and left out a district court ruling. It now includes Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr.'s May 2025 ruling that the proclamation is unlawful. Status unchanged (Pending) while the standing of that ruling on appeal is confirmed.
- Status change: the entry on seized oil tankers said only that there was no ruling. The Justice Department went to federal court in February 2026 to take ownership of the first tanker and its oil, which the entry had not included. Status changed from Alleged to Pending.
- Status change: the entry on the FCC chair and Jimmy Kimmel said only that there was no ruling. It now includes the FCC's April 2026 early review of ABC's station licenses and the lawsuit ABC filed against the FCC on Aug. 18, 2026. Status changed from Alleged to Pending.
- Status change: the entry on American children sent to Honduras did not include the lawsuit the two families filed against the federal government on July 31, 2025. It now does. Status changed from Alleged to Pending.
- Moved Download the data up in the footer, directly under the stamp legend, and added a Follow updates row with buttons for What changed this week and the RSS feed.
- Renamed the Copy this entry button to Copy text, on the timeline and on each entry's own page. It copies the same thing as before.
- Moved the Add to post button to the end of each entry's button row, so the other buttons no longer shift when it is switched on.
- Updated: the entry on the Epstein files now includes two watchdog reviews opened in April 2026, one by the Justice Department's inspector general and one by the Government Accountability Office. Status unchanged (Alleged).
- Updated: the entry on U.S. citizens held by immigration agents now includes the December 2025 report by Senate Democrats, described as what it is: a report by one party's senators, not an official finding. Status unchanged (Alleged).
- Updated: the entry on killings near U.S.-backed aid sites in Gaza now includes a reported State Department inspector general investigation into how the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation spent a $30 million U.S. grant. Status unchanged (Alleged).
- Updated: the entry on the UAE stake in the Trump family's crypto company now includes the inquiry opened by Rep. Ro Khanna in February 2026. Status unchanged (Alleged).
- Correction: the entry on the Alien Enemies Act left out a ruling in the administration's favor. On May 13, 2025, Judge Stephanie Haines of the Western District of Pennsylvania held that the act can be used against members of Tren de Aragua, while requiring 21 days' notice before any removal. Because district courts have ruled both ways, its status changed from Pending to Mixed rulings.
- Correction: the entry on the oil blockade of Cuba said only that no court had ruled. It now says that the tariff threat in the Jan. 29 order ended on Feb. 20, 2026, when Trump signed an order ending his emergency-law tariffs on the day of the Supreme Court's tariff ruling, and that the same order kept the national emergency over Cuba and other measures in place. Status unchanged (Alleged).
- Updated: the entry on the antifa designation and NSPM-7 now includes two developments that favor the administration: a Texas jury's March 2026 convictions of eight people on terrorism charges in a case prosecutors tied to antifa, and charges filed in June 2026 against 15 people in Minnesota. Status unchanged (Alleged).
- Updated the Watchlist entry on troops or ICE at the polls: Denver and three civic groups filed the first lawsuit over the issue on Sept. 10, asking a federal court to keep armed immigration agents away from polling sites.
- New entry: FEMA's cancellation of its largest disaster-preparedness grant program (BRIC), which Judge Richard Stearns ruled unlawful on Dec. 11, 2025 and ordered the agency to carry out in a second order on March 6, 2026 (Exhibit 113, Ruled unlawful). The ruling was previously a sentence in the disaster-aid entry, which now points to it.
- Updated: the entry on the AP ban now spells out the two rulings with their dates: the April 8, 2025 ruling that the ban was unconstitutional, and the June 6, 2025 appeals order that lets the White House keep the AP out of the Oval Office and other restricted spaces while the case continues. Status unchanged (Pending).
- Added a Last checked date to every entry, permanent exhibit numbers, a link for each entry, an About section and this change log.
- Revised 14 headlines to replace loaded wording with plainer descriptions. No facts or statuses changed.
- New in The Record: Waiving dozens of laws to wall off Big Bend (Mixed rulings).
- Correction: the Watchlist entry on federal citizen lists now includes a June 2026 ruling against the citizenship database that had been missed. The same facts were added to the entry on the March 2026 voting order.
- Every entry is now written into the page itself, so search engines, link previews, archives and readers without JavaScript see the full record. Clarified in About what inclusion means and how "wide, documented criticism" is defined; the latest changes now show by default.
- New in The Record, filling gaps: invoking the Alien Enemies Act (Pending); firing the Democrats on independent agencies (Criticized); ending Temporary Protected Status (Mixed rulings); offshore wind stop-work orders (Ruled unlawful).
- The counts at the top of the page are clickable. Dark mode stays the default; the toggle still remembers your choice.
- Updated: boat strikes (a judge ordered the legal memo behind them turned over for review), Kennedy Center (a Senate bill to bar demolition was blocked), federal citizen lists (the earliest launch date under the court's notice order is Oct. 28).
- Added shareable links for any filtered view (Copy link to this view), Expand all and Collapse all buttons, a back-to-top button, a Share button on phones, a clean print layout, and a keyboard skip link.
- Fixed a layout bug on narrow phones where the Last checked line could push the page wider than the screen, and made the keyboard skip link the first thing in the tab order.
- Phone layout: filters now fold behind a Filters button so entries start sooner, the month strip shows a fade and a swipe hint where it scrolls, and jumping to an entry no longer lands it under the sticky search bar.
- New in The Record: Suing 30 states for their voters' private data (Ruled unlawful).
- New on the Watchlist: federal citizen lists for every state.
- Updated: taxpayer-funded TV ads praising Trump, boat strikes, Kennedy Center.
- New in The Record: the Cuba oil blockade (Alleged) and firing court-appointed U.S. attorneys (Ruled unlawful).
- Moved from the Watchlist to The Record: criminal subpoenas for Minnesota's Democratic leaders, after finding a June ruling that had been missed when the Watchlist entry was created.
- Status changes: East Wing demolition, Criticized to Ruled unlawful; criminal investigation of the Fed chair, Alleged to Ruled unlawful; cancelling nearly $1 billion Congress approved, Alleged to Official finding.
- New on the Watchlist: an emergency declaration before the midterms, and a Pentagon religion office.
- Updated: Kennedy Center, boat strikes, Triumphal Arch, prosecuting the president's critics, arrests of Democratic officials, IRS settlement, Wall Street Journal lawsuit, Maurene Comey firing, Fulton County ballots, White House press ban, Maduro, Minnesota judges complaint, National Guard force.
- Added an email address for corrections and tips.
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