Today in one sentence: Trump claimed he fired Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook; a whistleblower said Trump administration officials uploaded a copy of the Social Security database to a private cloud server that "lacks independent security, monitoring and oversight"; a Trump-appointed judge dismissed the Trump administration’s lawsuit challenging a Maryland court order that paused deportations for two business days when immigrants filed habeas petitions; the Department of Homeland Security appointed an election conspiracy theorist as deputy assistant secretary for election integrity; Trump appointed his deputy chief of staff, who manages most of his social media, to lead the White House Presidential Personnel Office; the Trump administration plans to remove COVID-19 vaccines from the U.S. market “within months”; and Trump, while meeting South Korea’s president at the White House, repeatedly praised North Korea’s dictator Kim Jong-un and said, “I’d like to meet him this year.”

1/ Trump claimed he fired Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, citing mortgage fraud allegations as “sufficient cause” for her removal. Cook, however, rejected the move, saying, “President Trump purported to fire me ‘for cause’ when no cause exists under the law, and he has no authority to do so.” Her attorney, Abbe Lowell, said they will file a lawsuit, calling the action “illegal” and one that “lacks any factual or legal basis.” No president has ever attempted to fire a Fed governor in the central bank’s 111-year history, and the law permits removal only “for cause,” a standard never defined in court. The allegations involve mortgages Cook signed in 2021, before she joined the Fed; the Justice Department has opened an investigation but has not charged her. Trump said Cook’s removal would give him a Fed “majority very shortly” to push interest rates lower, adding, “So that’ll be great.” The Fed said it would “abide by any court decision” and stressed that fixed terms and removal protections are meant to insulate monetary policy from political pressure, a safeguard economists warn is critical to U.S. financial credibility. (CNN / CNBC / CNBC / Wall Street Journal / New York Times / Washington Post / New York Times / Bloomberg / NPR / Associated Press / Politico / NBC News)

2/ A whistleblower said Trump administration officials uploaded a copy of the Social Security database to a private cloud server that “lacks independent security, monitoring and oversight.” Whistleblower Charles Borges, the Social Security Administration’s chief data officer, alleged that Department of Government Efficiency staffers risked the personal data of more than 300 million Americans when they moved the file without required oversight and despite warnings the project carried “high risk” and could cause “catastrophic impact” that “potentially violated multiple federal statutes.” Internal risk assessments said unauthorized access might force the government to reissue every Social Security number. SSA Chief Information Officer Aram Moghaddassi nevertheless approved the move, writing that “the business need is higher than the security risk” and that he accepted “all risks.” (NPR / New York Times / Wall Street Journal / Axios / TechCrunch)

3/ A Trump-appointed judge dismissed the Trump administration’s lawsuit challenging a Maryland court order that paused deportations for two business days when immigrants filed habeas petitions. Judge Thomas Cullen called the suit against all 15 Maryland federal judges “novel and potentially calamitous” and said the judges were immune, noting the administration should have appealed instead. He warned the case “would run counter to overwhelming precedent, depart from longstanding constitutional tradition, and offend the rule of law.” Cullen also condemned the White House’s rhetoric, noting top officials had called judges “rogue,” “radical,” “crooked,” and worse, which he called “unprecedented and unfortunate.” The Justice Department, however, said it would appeal and that the order is “a direct assault on the president’s ability to enforce the immigration laws.” (NBC News / Associated Press / Politico / Reuters / Washington Post / New York Times / ABC News)

4/ The Department of Homeland Security appointed an election conspiracy theorist as deputy assistant secretary for election integrity. Heather Honey, founder of PA Fair Elections, spread false claims about the 2020 election and was praised by Cleta Mitchell, a lawyer who worked to help Trump overturn the 2020 results, as a “wonderful person.” Trump repeated one of her claims on Jan. 6, saying Pennsylvania had “205,000 more votes than you had voters.” (Philadelphia Inquirer / ProPublica / WITF / Democracy Docket)

5/ Trump appointed his deputy chief of staff, who manages most of his social media, to lead the White House Presidential Personnel Office. Dan Scavino will now oversee hiring and firing across the administration, replacing Sergio Gor, who was nominated last week as ambassador to India and special envoy for South and Central Asian affairs. A former Trump lawyer, who pleaded guilty in Georgia to aiding and abetting false statements about the 2020 election, told prosecutors that Scavino said in December 2020 that “the boss is not going to leave under any circumstances” and that “We don’t care, and we’re not going to leave.” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, nevertheless, promised that “Dan’s leadership will ensure the highest quality, most dedicated workforce ever.” (Politico / Washington Post / Bloomberg)

6/ The Trump administration plans to remove COVID-19 vaccines from the U.S. market “within months,” according to Dr. Aseem Malhotra, an ally of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Reportedly, Malhotra said Kennedy’s team “cannot understand” why the vaccines are still prescribed and that the administration may act in “one clean decision,” even if it brings “fear of chaos” and legal fallout. Kennedy has already cut $500 million in mRNA funding and called the COVID shot “the deadliest vaccine ever made.” Research, however, estimates that the vaccines prevented at least 3 million deaths in the U.S. and more than 14 million globally in their first year. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists said they would keep recommending COVID shots for young children and pregnant people, while Kennedy warned doctors who defy federal guidance could lose malpractice liability protections. (Daily Beast / New Republic / Vox)

7/ Trump, while meeting South Korea’s president at the White House, repeatedly praised North Korea’s dictator Kim Jong-un and said, “I’d like to meet him this year.” Trump said they “had a very good relationship, as you remember, and still do.” Trump then offered to arrange a meeting between Kim and Lee Jae Myung, who replied that “the only person that can make progress on this issue is you, Mr. President.” Lee added that he looked forward to “construction of a Trump Tower in North Korea” and “playing golf at that place.” North Korea, meanwhile, recently dismissed Seoul’s proposals aimed at easing tensions on the peninsula and vowed to “make enemies afraid” with its “rapid expansion” of its nuclear program. (New York Times / Bloomberg / Axios)

The midterm elections are in 434 days.

Five years ago today: Day 1315: "Extreme action."
Six years ago today: Day 949: Magnificent.