March 15, 2025

How Love Wins This Week (Mar 15, 2025)

Hard Wins: Cases won, orders issued, legislation passed, etc.

• Federal district courts in California and Maryland find mass dismissal of federal probationary employees was likely illegal and orders those jobs reinstated. Two judges in mass firings cases order Trump administration to rehire probationary workers for now [AP]; Trump administration ordered to reinstate tens of thousands of fired probationary workers [USA Today/MSN]
  • For an excellent analysis of both decisions, see Two Big Court Rulings [The Status Kuo]
• Another federal court held that the Dept of Governmental Efficiency is subject to and must respond to Freedom of Information Act requests. Judge orders urgent release of DOGE records, citing ‘unprecedented’ power and ‘unusual secrecy’ [Politico]
• A federal court blocks an executive order targeting law firm Perkins Coie as being apparently "retaliatory in nature." Judge Blocks Trump Executive Order Targeting Law Firm for Election Work [Democracy Docket]
• A Native American reservation in Arizona successfully leveraged use of its water rights to pressure the Trump administration to release necessary federal funding for the protection of the Colorado River. Donald Trump Loses Battle Over Lake Mead [Newsweek/MSN]
  • Water rights are complex and a very big deal. For a deeper dive on this story, see Could Trump break the West’s most important river? [Politico]
• A win for voting rights in Montana: Montana Voter Registration Penalty Law is Permanently Blocked [Democracy Docket]

Soft Wins: Cases filed, legislation introduced, etc.

• FEMA sued over hold on funds for upgrading nation’s emergency alert system [AP]

Fighting the Good Fight: Protests, unofficial actions, and inspiration

• Arizona Secretary of State Proposes Alternative to Defunded National Election Security Program [Democracy Docket]
• Tim Walz to launch national tour of town halls in Republican House districts [CNN]
  • Gov. Walz's tour follows through on his tweet form earlier this month:
• A recent newsletter from Erin in the Morning shared a celebration of trans women in honor of women's history month (and in defiance of the current administration).
  • The piece concludes with a wonderful quote from Pauli Murray: When my brothers try to draw a circle to exclude me, I shall draw a larger circle to include them. Where they speak out for the privileges of a puny group, I shall shout for the rights of all mankind. As a law student, Murray wrote a law review article that later gave a framework to the lawyers who litigated Brown v. Board of Education, the 1954 Supreme Court decision that held racial segregation in schools to be unconstitutional.

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