President Donald Trump continues to take sweeping executive actions in his second term, including an order this week targeting a senior official from his first administration who became one of his critics.
Focus continues on the legal battle regarding Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a migrant who was living in Maryland when he was wrongfully deported by the administration.
In a statement to ABC News, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt blasted the order from the Supreme Court and said the White House is confident the deportation actions by the administration are lawful.
"We are confident in the lawfulness of the Administration's actions and in ultimately prevailing against an onslaught of meritless litigation brought by radical activists who care more about the rights of terrorist aliens than those of the American people," she said in her statement.
-ABC News' Hannah Demissie
Apr 19, 2025, 1:28 PM EDT
Supreme Court temporarily halts Alien Enemies Act deportations from Texas
In a 1 a.m. ruling, the Supreme Court blocked the deportations of Venezuelan migrants held in northern Texas under President Donald Trump's Alien Enemies Act executive order.
The court directed the Trump administration not to remove Venezuelans held in the Bluebonnet Detention Center "until further order of this court."
Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented. Alito was slated to provide a statement about his dissent.
The Supreme Court is seen in Washington, March 2, 2025.
Tierney L Cross/AFP via Getty Images
The White House and Justice Department did not comment on the ruling.
The American Civil Liberties Union filed an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court in its court battle against the administration, challenging the deportations.
"We are relieved that the Supreme Court has not permitted the administration to whisk them away the way others were just last month," ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt said in a statement.
-ABC News' Ahmad Hemingway
Apr 18, 2025, 5:28 PM EDT
Trump takes step to make firing some federal workers easier
President Donald Trump announced on Friday that his administration took a step toward making thousands of federal workers easier to fire by stripping them of civil service protections and reclassifying them as "at-will" employees.
President Donald Trump speaks during the swearing in ceremony of Mehmet Oz as Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, April 18, 2025.
Will Oliver/EPA-EFE/Shutterstocck
"Moving forward, career government employees, working on policy matters, will be classified as 'Schedule Policy/Career,' and will be held to the highest standards of conduct and performance," Trump posted on social media.
"If these government workers refuse to advance the policy interests of the President, or are engaging in corrupt behavior, they should no longer have a job," he added. "This is common sense, and will allow the federal government to finally be 'run like a business.' We must root out corruption and implement accountability in our Federal Workforce!"
The new proposed "Schedule Policy/Career" classification will affect about 50,000 federal workers, or about 2% of the workforce, according to the White House. The workers "are not required to personally or politically support the President, but must faithfully implement the law and the administration's policies," the White House added.
The new rule proposed by OPM is not immediately reclassifying these workers. For the change to happen, Trump will need to sign an executive order after OPM issues a final rule.
-ABC News' Fritz Farrow
Apr 18, 2025, 3:06 PM EDT
Planning underway for imminent military deportation flight under AEA: Official
A U.S. official told ABC News that there is planning underway for an imminent U.S. military deportation flight under the Alien Enemies Act.
American Civil Liberties Union attorneys for several Venezuelans who are detained in a detention center in Texas said in a court filing on Thursday night that they believe their clients are at "imminent risk" of being deported to El Salvador under the 1798 law. It is unclear if their clients are on the planned flight.
