Senate Update: The Fight Goes On — in the Courts, the Congress, and our Communities

Last Tuesday night, Donald Trump addressed a Joint Session of Congress. It was the longest ever such address, and it was packed with lies, lies, and more lies. It’s the Great Betrayal: Trump promised that on “Day One” he’d fight to lower prices and costs for Americans, but instead, he’s devoted every day to slashing public services that benefit all Americans in order to further empower and enrich billionaires like Elon Musk. He’s enacting the Project 2025 playbook, which he disavowed during his presidential campaign because he knew it was unpopular. We need to sort through his lies and distractions and focus on what he’s doing.   

One of the whoppers of his speech was the lie that Social Security is handing out fraudulent payments to tens of millions of dead people — a claim denied by Trump’s own Social Security Administration Acting Commissioner. Trump is telling these lies to cover up the truth: Musk belittled Social Security as a “Ponzi scheme,” and the two of them are reportedly planning to fire 7,000 Social Security workers, jeopardizing Americans’ access to their benefits. And that’s just what they’ve made public so far. I am deeply concerned about what’s next on their Social Security agenda — and will fight them every step of the way.   

Trump spoke for a long time on Tuesday, and, as the lies piled up, I decided I’d had enough and left.   

Still, I was proud to bring my guest, Skye Perryman — President and CEO of the legal advocacy organization Democracy Forward — because she is leading a team of lawyers on the front lines of the efforts to fight back in court against the torrent of illegal actions by Trump and Musk. Democracy Forward is defending our democracy every day, from protecting patriotic federal employees and the essential services they provide to the American public to working to ensure that investments made by Congress in our communities and national priorities are delivered as intended.   

Fight in the Courts    

Our first line of defense against the flood of Trump and Musk’s illegal actions is the courts. That’s why I have been working with the lawyers bringing these cases. Democracy Forward and others are scoring many key victories. They led the first lawsuit against Trump’s Executive Order to illegally freeze federal funds flowing to communities and obtained a nationwide preliminary injunction that blocked Trump's Office of Management and Budget from taking further action. They also successfully petitioned the Office of Special Counsel to stop the termination of six representative probationary employees, resulting in the Merit Systems Protection Board ordering their reinstatement — and laying the groundwork for overturning other illegal firings. These cases are among their other successful litigation efforts, such as blocking enforcement of the Administration’s anti-DEI order and securing a hold on efforts to dissolve the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.  

Over 60 lawsuits have been filed against the flood of illegal actions by Trump and Musk. Here’s an update on some of the key rulings: 

On his first day in office, Trump ordered a pause on all foreign aid, and then his administration began to illegally dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which plays a central role in preventing disease and hunger, supporting democracy, and promoting U.S. national security interests worldwide. Nonprofit advocates that receive USAID grants sued the Trump administration, and the D.C. District Court granted a temporary restraining order that requires the government to reimburse entities that had already spent funds based on USAID contracts. The judge had to twice order the government to comply with his temporary restraining order, and, on Wednesday, the Supreme Court weighed in. In a 5-4 decision, the Court rejected the Trump administration’s petition and ordered them to make the payments that are due and owing, and the District Court judge later mandated that payments resume immediately to the named plaintiffs in the lawsuit. This is a step in the right direction, but it does not address all payments that are owed nor does it prevent the Administration from blocking future funds that USAID planned to deliver in support of critical U.S. interests abroad. The fight to save USAID — and the critical role it plays in advancing U.S. values and interests — continues.   

Also on Wednesday, a federal judge in Boston ordered Trump and Musk to stop blocking lifesaving NIH research funding at our universities and other institutions — issuing a preliminary injunction on top of a temporary restraining order from February. The judge ruled that the Trump Administration did not have the authority to summarily and unilaterally change the terms of reimbursement for critical research — changes that would cripple the ability of many institutions to perform their lifesaving work.  

Over the past month, Trump and Musk have illegally fired thousands of “probationary” employees — those newly hired, promoted, or reassigned. Indeed, they terminated people so recklessly that they made dangerous mistakes, including firing people working to stop the spread of avian flu and people who monitor our nuclear facilities. Thankfully, the courts and independent government administrative boards have found these firings, based on lies, to be unjustified and illegal. In California last week, a judge issued a temporary restraining order against the firing of employees at six agencies and called the Trump Administration's actions “unlawful," and "invalid,” and stated that they “must be stopped and rescinded.”   

Additionally, the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), the internal government body charged with protecting the merit-based civil service, halted the terminations of six probationary employees after they successfully petitioned the Office of the Special Counsel to investigate their wrongful termination. In finding that the employees must be reinstated for at least 45 days while further investigation takes place, a member of the MSPB stated, “there are reasonable grounds to believe that each of the six agencies engaged in a prohibited personnel practice.” On Wednesday, this stay was expanded to protect over 5,000 U.S. Department of Agriculture probationary employees who were wrongfully terminated, temporarily reinstating them pending further investigation of their dismissals. The next step should be to expand this ruling to other agencies beyond the Department of Agriculture.   

The Trump Administration is trying to disrupt these successful actions before the MSPB by firing the person who challenged these illegal terminations — Hampton Dellinger, the head of the independent Office of Special Counsel that works to combat government corruption. Trump tried to fire Dellinger several weeks ago, but a court had ordered him reinstated. Unfortunately, on Wednesday, the appeals court disagreed, allowing Dellinger to be terminated. Facing what he perceived to be uphill odds, he has ended his attempt to be reinstated.   

As you can see, we have a long way to go to fully reverse these illegal firings and protect our federal workers, but I will continue to work with Democracy Forward and others bringing these cases. At the same time these legal battles proceed in the courts, we must use every tool available to fight Trump and Musk in the Congress.  

Fight in the Congress 

We will use every tool we have in Congress to stop Trump, Musk, and congressional Republicans from ripping up the Constitution or implementing their plan to enact huge tax cuts for the ultra-rich at the expense of everyone else.  

Preserving the Power of the Purse 

One of the biggest struggles in the Congress and the courts has been stopping Trump from recklessly and illegally withholding money for investments in our communities. At the heart of the Constitution is the principle that the president is not a king: he cannot cherry-pick the law and defund programs he doesn’t like without approval from Congress.

But Donald Trump doesn’t care about the law. He is trying to unilaterally freeze vital funding for Americans — from support for schools to cancer research — and he is illegally freezing lifesaving foreign aid abroad. This is a flagrant violation of the Impoundment Control Act, bipartisan legislation passed in the 1970s to prevent a president from doing just this.  

In Congress, I’m fighting every day to preserve our system of checks and balances. In January, I asked Russell Vought, Trump’s director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), to confirm that he’d comply with the Impoundment Control Act—to simply follow the law. He refused. This week, I asked Dan Bishop, Trump’s nominee for OMB Deputy Director, if he would comply. As a former member of Congress, Bishop has a history of supporting the Impoundment Control Act — just a few years ago, he signed a letter charging that President Biden wasn’t adhering to that law. But now that Trump is in the White House, he too decided that the law is invalid.  

As you can see from my questioning of Bishop and my exchange with Senator Lindsey Graham, Republicans are refusing to uphold Article I of the Constitution, which clearly grants the Congress power of the purse. Instead, Republicans in the Congress seem prepared to surrender their powers to Trump. That poses a direct threat to our system of checks and balances. I will continue to push back in the Congress and also lay the groundwork for the fight on this issue in the courts. 

Stopping Cuts to Medicaid and Other Vital Programs to Offset Tax Cuts for the Rich   

Trump said he would “love and cherish” Medicaid, but Republicans in Congress are paving the way to cut as much as $880 billion from it to pay for their billionaire tax giveaway. A report from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office shows that the Republicans’ budget goals will be impossible to achieve without cuts to Medicaid or Medicare and other vital programs. Republicans in Congress are planning to use a process called “budget reconciliation,” which will allow them to overcome all procedural hurdles and pass their tax giveaway to the ultra-rich without any Democratic votes in either the House or the Senate. We are doing everything in our power to slow down, expose, and ultimately thwart this scam. The Republicans have a razor-thin majority in the House and a four-seat margin in the Senate, so — as discussed below in the “Fight in Our Communities” section — if they feel enough resistance from their constituents, we can stop them. 

Standing with Ukraine and Democratic Allies   

Trump isn’t just betraying Americans here at home; he’s also betraying all those who fight for freedom and democracy abroad. Just over a week ago, I joined bipartisan members of Congress to meet with President Zelenskyy, who expressed his gratitude to the American people for our support in the fight against Putin’s onslaught. Then, he went to the White House, where Donald Trump and J.D. Vance bullied and maligned him and the people of Ukraine. What followed — both in that meeting and since — was disgraceful. In his latest efforts to undermine the Ukrainian people, Trump has suspended U.S. military aid and intelligence-sharing with Ukraine. Russian leaders are openly reveling in these traitorous actions. These actions followed the despicable spectacle of the Trump Administration joining Russia and North Korea to vote AGAINST Ukraine and all our global partners and allies on a U.N. resolution affirming Russia was the aggressor in the War in Ukraine (even Iran and China abstained rather than voting no).   

Last Tuesday, I asked Trump’s nominees to serve as Deputy Secretary of State and the U.S. representative to NATO to simply acknowledge that Russia was the aggressor in the war. They wouldn’t. On Wednesday, I went to the Senate floor to bring up a Senate resolution I authored that simply stated what we know to be true: Russia has committed war crimes in their assault on Ukraine. I requested unanimous consent to pass that bill – but it was blocked by Senate Republicans. When it means bucking Trump, Senate Republicans are unwilling to stand up to Putin. This is "Dear Leader" syndrome run amok.      

Trump doesn’t understand service or sacrifice; he won’t even take care of our veterans. He calls servicemembers who died for this country “losers” and “suckers,” and although his cronies claim they are making the VA more efficient, they are actually preparing to fire 80,000 people who provide veterans’ benefits — all so Trump, Musk and the billionaire cabinet can pay less in taxes. Trump has already fired thousands of veterans across our federal workforce, justifying these firings with lies that they are unfit for their jobs. It’s disgusting. We won’t let it stand.   

Fight in our Communities    

As he did during his address to a Joint Session of Congress, Trump is “flooding the zone” with lies and an avalanche of outrageous and illegal actions. He knows his agenda is unpopular, so he’s trying to cover up the truth. That’s why, every day, I’m looking for ways to cut through the noise and tell the American people what’s actually happening.     

I’ve joined patriots who are gathering to fight back against Trump and Musk’s effort to slash services and rig the government to serve the rich. On Monday, I joined former employees, scientists, and concerned Americans to stand up against illegal firings at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Among other essential work performed at NOAA, they are America’s eyes and ears for warning about extreme weather events, like hurricanes and other natural disasters. Every single American — whether they realize it or not — relies on data from NOAA when they look at a weather forecast and its weather alerts save lives in emergencies like hurricanes and tornadoes. As outlined in Project 2025, Trump and Musk are firing NOAA scientists to silence their critical research into climate change, and they want to privatize the weather forecasting services provided by the National Weather Service — making Americans pay for this public good.    

Also on Monday, outside of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, we spoke out against the Trump-Musk attempts to gut the agency and get rid of affordable housing programs. Let me be clear: Americans already face housing costs that are way too high — and these efforts will only make things worse. It is repulsive that a real estate mogul is teaming up with the richest man in the world to deny affordable housing to other Americans.    

On Tuesday, at the Office of Personnel Management, I joined federal workers and union leaders from AFGE, to stand up against Elon Musk’s illegal operations there. On Wednesday, I rallied with another federal employees’ union, NTEU, to save the civil service from being replaced by partisan hacks. On Friday, I rallied with thousands of scientists in front of the Lincoln Memorial to protest Trump’s outrageous cuts to lifesaving research and science. I’m also working to shine a light on Trump’s egregious actions in the media — from MSNBC to CNN to Fox News — and to share updates on the latest outrages on social media: Bluesky, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Threads, and Twitter/X.

All of these actions are to mobilize and channel an outpouring of public opposition to the illegal actions of Musk and Trump. And getting the word out is having an impact around the country. You may have witnessed large crowds confronting Republican members of the House and Senate about the outrages that are happening. In fact, a Republican leader in the House advised his members to stop holding town halls. We need to make clear that refusing to listen to their constituents will not make the opposition go away — it will only fuel it.  

Tips and Resources for Federal Workers in Maryland:

I recently joined Governor Moore in Annapolis to announce new ways that the State of Maryland is helping fired federal workers and federal contractors who have lost jobs. The state has launched a website with important resources, including help with unemployment insurance and a pipeline to hire these workers for the state.  

While the actions taken by the Trump-Musk Administration are an unprecedented and unconscionable assault on the federal civil service, federal employees have rights and avenues for legal recourse. If you need help from my team, you can fill out this form or call my Rockville office at 301-545-1500.  

You should also consider the following tips*: 

1. Keep a record of everything, including hard copies of performance reviews, SF-50s, and years of service.     

2. Consult with your supervisors for guidance when you receive an order or request from outside your agency, such as a directive from OPM.    

3. Pursue legal advice from an attorney specializing in federal employee law or from your union.   

4. File a complaint if you are targeted. If you are a current or former federal employee or applicant, you may have a right to file a complaint with the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) or an appeal with the Merit Systems Protection Board. If you are in a bargaining unit, you should communicate with your union first, as it is possible that they have a different, negotiated set of grievance procedures.    

Another issue of importance if you have been fired: the State of Maryland encourages anyone to apply for unemployment insurance, regardless of the reason for termination. Each claim will be evaluated individually. Seeking unemployment insurance will not terminate your right to pursue legal action for a wrongful firing.    

For Maryland federal employees who have been wrongfully laid off or for grant recipients or federal contractors who have had their funding held as a result of the Trump-Musk actions, we are fighting back. As we work to restore jobs and unfreeze the illegal funding blockade, you can visit my website here to find additional resources available. You can also share your story on my website here.

Every day, I’m hearing from Marylanders under assault by the Trump-Musk Administration. Civil servants being illegally fired. Seniors and families afraid they’ll lose access to Medicare or Medicaid. Patriots alarmed by Trump’s attack on our democracy. They want our help, and they want to help fight back. And right now, we need Americans actively engaged in holding Donald Trump and Elon Musk accountable. I am heartened by all who have joined in this fight.   

Together, we can do this! 

Onwards,    

Chris Van Hollen   

Originally Posted By u/Suspicious-Week1423 At 2025-03-09 10:13:23 PM | Source