Today in one sentence: Federal immigration agents arrested a Columbia student when he arrived for his citizenship interview in Vermont, despite his legal residency and lack of any criminal charge; a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to turn over records and prepare for depositions over its refusal to bring Kilmar Abrego Garcia back from an El Salvador prison, despite a Supreme Court order requiring the government to “facilitate” his return; the Trump administration froze $2.2 billion in federal grants to Harvard after the university refused to adopt Trump’s policy demands tied to campus protests and diversity programs; 82% of Americans believe Trump should obey court orders even if he disagrees with them; 56% think Trump should stop "deporting people"; Marjorie Taylor Greene bought up to $315,000 in stock and sold up to $100,000 in U.S. Treasury bills just before Trump announced a 90-day pause on tariffs that triggered the stock market’s biggest rally since 2008; the Trump administration has scaled back from prosecuting white-collar crimes, including foreign bribery, money laundering, and crypto; roughly 22,000 IRS employees have signed up for a Trump administration buyout offer; and JD Vance fumbled Ohio State’s national championship trophy at the White House.

1/ Federal immigration agents arrested a Columbia student when he arrived for his citizenship interview in Vermont, despite his legal residency and lack of any criminal charge. Mohsen Mahdawi, a Palestinian-born activist, helped lead pro-Palestinian protests on campus and was publicly named by Betar USA, a hardline pro-Israel group that posted online that Mahdawi was “on our deport list.” Mahdawi’s lawyers said the Trump administration is using a rarely invoked immigration law that allows the Secretary of State to deport legal residents deemed harmful to U.S. foreign policy. They called the arrest “retaliation for his advocacy.” A federal judge blocked Mahdawi’s deportation or transfer out of state, saying, “He was clearly eligible for naturalization. There’s no need to detain a lawful permanent resident incommunicado.” (New York Times / CBS News / Associated Press / The Hill / Washington Post / Axios / NBC News / Wall Street Journal)

  • The Constitutional Crisis Is Here. Trump’s administration is only pretending to comply with the Supreme Court on the matter of a Maryland man it deported erroneously.” (The Atlantic)
  • Trump Tests the True Limits of Presidential Power. “The Abrego Garcia case is the latest and most perfectly emblematic example of the new Trump administration’s willingness to test the law.”(National Review)

2/ A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to turn over records and prepare for depositions over its refusal to bring Kilmar Abrego Garcia back from an El Salvador prison, despite a Supreme Court order requiring the government to “facilitate” his return. Judge Paula Xinis accused the Trump administration of stalling, saying: “To date nothing has been done […] There will be no tolerance for gamesmanship or grandstanding.” The administration now claims it lacks authority to retrieve him – even as it pays El Salvador to detain migrants – and top aides like Stephen Miller have now called the deportation legal and intentional. Trump officials continue to insist Abrego Garcia is an MS-13 gang member, but offer no proof beyond a police report from a disgraced officer later convicted for misconduct. Abrego Garcia’s lawyers say the government hasn’t even asked for his release, while Homeland Security warned he could be detained again if he returns. Trump defended the deportation of the legally protected Maryland resident, who is married to a U.S. citizen and has three children, saying: “Isn’t it wonderful that we’re keeping criminals out of our country?” (Washington Post / New York Times / New Republic / NBC News / Associated Press / ABC News / TechDirt)

3/ The Trump administration froze $2.2 billion in federal grants to Harvard after the university refused to adopt Trump’s policy demands tied to campus protests and diversity programs. Trump also threatened Harvard’s tax-exempt status, wondering aloud whether the university should “be Taxed as a Political Entity.” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also said Trump wants Harvard to “apologize” for “egregious antisemitism” and questioned why taxpayers fund a university with a $50 billion endowment. Harvard President Alan Garber, meanwhile, called Trump’s demands unconstitutional and said, “No government […] should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue.” (Politico / New York Times / CNN / Associated Press / Washington Post / Axios)

poll/ 82% of Americans believe Trump should obey court orders even if he disagrees with them. 56% think Trump should stop “deporting people.” (Strength in Numbers)

The midterm elections are in 567 days.

✏️ Notables.

  1. Marjorie Taylor Greene bought up to $315,000 in stock and sold up to $100,000 in U.S. Treasury bills just before Trump announced a 90-day pause on tariffs that triggered the stock market’s biggest rally since 2008. Public disclosures showed Greene purchased shares in companies including Tesla, Amazon, Nvidia, and JPMorgan. (New York Times / Bloomberg / The Hill / USA Today)

  2. A whistleblower alleged that Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency gained high-level access to internal systems at the National Labor Relations Board and removed around 10 gigabytes of sensitive data. The disclosure said DOGE staff disabled logging tools, deleted records, and left parts of the system exposed to the public internet. (Reuters / New Republic / NPR)

  3. The Trump administration has scaled back from prosecuting white-collar crimes, including foreign bribery, money laundering, and crypto violations. A February executive order halted enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, arguing it hurts U.S. companies overseas. Since then, the Justice Department has dropped or paused multiple cases and Attorney General Pam Bondi has removed top career prosecutors and shifted focus to drug cartels and fraud against the government. (Wall Street Journal)

  4. The Trump administration directed the Social Security Administration to classify over 6,000 living immigrants as dead, effectively eliminating their ability to work legally or access benefits. Senior SSA official Greg Pearre opposed the plan, calling it illegal and warning of errors, but was removed and placed on leave. The White House claimed the individuals had ties to criminal activity or terrorism, but provided no evidence. Internal reviews found no criminal records for some of those targeted, including minors and elderly individuals. (Washington Post / USA Today)

  5. Roughly 22,000 IRS employees have signed up for a Trump administration buyout offer, putting the agency on track to lose up to a third of its workforce this year. The IRS had 100,000 employees before Trump took office. Since January, 5,000 have resigned and 7,000 probationary workers were laid off. IRS officials say the staff cuts are already forcing the agency to drop audits and reduce enforcement. (CNN / New York Times / CNBC)

  6. JD Vance fumbled Ohio State’s national championship trophy at the White House. As the band played “We Are the Champions,” Vance tried to lift the 35-pound trophy – then broke it. “I didn’t want anyone after Ohio State to get the trophy so I decided to break it,” Vance said later. (USA Today / NBC News / ABC News)

Last year today: Day 1182: "Take the win."
Six years ago today: Day 816: Hateful and inflammatory.
Eight years ago today: Day 86: Frankenmissile.