March 1

Trump administration fires 20+ immigration judges who dismissed deportation cases

The Trump administration fires more than 20 EOIR immigration judges, including judges who had dismissed deportation cases against international students and activists, ruling the government lacked sufficient evidence, citing performance and "consistency with administration priorities." The firings mark the most aggressive executive interference in immigration court adjudication in EOIR's 40-year history. Immigration judges are civil servants appointed by the attorney general and have no Article III tenure protections.

Nature editorial warns US funding cuts are triggering a global redistribution of scientific talent and capacity

Nature published an editorial documenting that the simultaneous cancellation of thousands of NIH, NSF, and NEH grants, combined with the uncertainty created by anti-DEI investigations and federal workforce reductions, had triggered what it called the most serious threat to US scientific leadership since the Cold War era. The editorial cited data showing that European, Canadian, and Australian research institutions had received a record number of applications from US-based researchers in the first months of 2025. It warned that the talent and institutional knowledge being lost would not be quickly recovered because scientific careers and research programs are built over years, and the researchers now leaving had already completed the expensive training that takes the longest to replace. The editorial called on the US scientific community to advocate publicly for the federal funding infrastructure that American research leadership depends on.

Florida post-tenure review law drives faculty departures, especially high-performing researchers, a 2025 study finds

A 2025 study examining the effects of Florida's post-tenure review legislation found that the law drove increased faculty departures from Florida public universities, with the most productive researchers — those with the strongest publication records, grant funding, and national reputations — disproportionately likely to leave. Faculty who had received strong external offers before the law was passed increasingly accepted those positions rather than remaining in an environment they described as politically hostile. Post-tenure review had existed before, but Florida's iteration created much shorter review cycles and gave administrators and politically appointed boards far more authority to terminate tenured faculty than traditional peer-review processes allowed. Losing high-profile scholars had compounding effects on graduate student recruitment, research funding, and institutional prestige.

FCC Chair Carr scraps net neutrality rules and ends federal broadband oversight

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr voted with the Republican majority to formally eliminate net neutrality rules, reclassifying broadband internet service from a Title II telecommunications service to a Title I information service. The reclassification removed the FCC's authority to prohibit internet service providers from blocking, throttling, or creating paid fast lanes for web traffic. Carr announced no future administration could restore net neutrality without congressional action, citing the Supreme Court's Loper Bright ruling limiting agency authority.

Trump orders the Education Department dismantled despite lacking legal authority

President Trump signed an executive order directing Education Secretary Linda McMahon to dismantle the Department of Education and return authority to states, despite only Congress having power to abolish a cabinet department created by statute. McMahon announced plans to eliminate most department functions, halt student loan servicing contracts, and transfer remaining functions to HHS. Legal scholars warned the order exceeded presidential authority under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

Trump relaunches CBP One as CBP Home to facilitate voluntary self-deportation

The Trump administration relaunches the CBP One app under a new name, CBP Home, with a new purpose, helping undocumented immigrants voluntarily self-deport. The app now allows users to submit biographical information and a photo to trigger a "self-departure" process. On May 5, 2025, DHS offers to assist qualifying undocumented immigrants with travel documents and book tickets at government expense, paying a $1,000 stipend to immigrants who verify their return home through the app.

Mortgage Bankers Association warns Congress ending VASP means mass veteran foreclosures

At a hearing before the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, a representative from the Mortgage Bankers Association warns that shutting down the VASP program without a replacement already operational will mean "Foreclosure. Period." for tens of thousands of veterans. Senate Veterans' Affairs ranking member Richard Blumenthal calls on VA Secretary Doug Collins to preserve the program. As of April 1, 2025, 75,000 veterans have missed three or more payments on VA-backed mortgages. 17,000 are already enrolled in VASP.

Vance tours a West Virginia coal mine and delivers pro-coal energy remarks

Vice President JD Vance toured a coal mine in Morgantown, West Virginia on March 1, 2025, and delivered remarks on energy independence and domestic coal production. The Trump administration had reversed Biden-era restrictions on coal extraction on federal lands and withdrew from international climate commitments; Vance argued that coal remained essential to U.S. energy security and manufacturing competitiveness despite declining coal industry employment trends.

DOGE deploys AI to monitor federal workers for anti-Trump sentiment

The Department of Government Efficiency, operating under Elon Musk's direction, deployed artificial intelligence tools to scan federal employee communications, performance reviews, and internal agency emails for signs of opposition to Trump administration priorities. The program flagged employees using terms associated with diversity, equity, and inclusion or expressing skepticism about DOGE directives. Workers reported receiving termination notices within 24 hours of flagged communications, with no appeals process before separation.

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Biden launches $42 billion BEAD broadband program brings internet to 8.5 million households

The Biden administration launches the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program, a $42.45 billion initiative funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to bring high-speed internet access to every unserved and underserved location in America. BEAD targets the approximately 8.5 million US households and businesses with no broadband access at all, concentrated in rural areas, tribal lands, and low-income urban communities. The program includes a requirement that nearly 90% of equipment spending use US-manufactured materials, making it a notable Buy American manufacturing initiative as well. Biden also announces an Affordable Connectivity Program providing low-income households subsidies of up to $30 per month for internet service, reducing bills to zero for millions.

CHIPS Act opens its first major grant applications for semiconductor fabs

Commerce Department opens applications for CHIPS Act semiconductor fab incentives. TSMC (Arizona), Intel (Ohio/Arizona/New Mexico), Samsung (Texas), and Micron (Idaho/New York) among applicants. Awards span $1.5B–10B range. 25% investment tax credit takes effect for qualifying fab construction costs beginning in 2023.

Biden delivers first formal State of the Union address vows to support Ukraine calls out Putin

President Biden delivers his first formal State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress, opening with a forceful statement of support for Ukraine's resistance to Russia's week-old invasion. Biden calls out Russian President Vladimir Putin directly, saying that his war "premeditated and unprovoked" and that Putin "miscalculated" Western unity. Biden announces the US will close its airspace to Russian aircraft and commits to hold the line with NATO allies. On the domestic front, he declares that "inflation is our top priority" and announces the creation of ARPA-H, a new health research agency modeled on DARPA, to accelerate treatments for cancer and other diseases. Ukrainian Ambassador Oksana Markarova attends as a guest in the First Lady's box.

Texas Children's Hospital suspends gender-affirming care for minors under state pressure

Texas Children's Hospital in Houston publicly announced in March 2022 that it was pausing gender-affirming services — including puberty blockers and hormone therapy — for minors, citing the need to protect staff from legal risk following Attorney General Paxton's child abuse opinion. The hospital stated it was working to comply with the law and would resume services if the legal landscape clarified. The announcement affected hundreds of patients mid-treatment at the nation's largest children's hospital.

MSPB loses its quorum, leaving federal workers without an appeals board for five years

The Merit Systems Protection Board lost its quorum in January 2017 when all three member positions expired without Senate confirmation of replacements, leaving the board unable to issue final decisions for nearly five years. During this period the board accumulated over 3,000 pending appeals with no path to resolution. Cathy Harris was confirmed as chair in March 2022 and Raymond Limon as member, restoring a quorum, but recusals by members Tristan Leavitt and later nominees left immigration judge appeals in a persistent procedural limbo that continued through 2026.

The Supreme Court declines Feehan's Wisconsin decertification lawsuit

William Feehan and other plaintiffs filed or pursued Feehan v. Wisconsin Elections Commission in Wisconsin after the 2020 election. The case sought to decertify Wisconsin general election results or have the governor transmit a result naming Trump the winner. The primary court document records that the U.S. Supreme Court denied the petitions for writs of mandamus.

The Supreme Court declines Bowyer's Arizona decertification petition

Republican elector plaintiffs filed or pursued Bowyer v. Ducey in Arizona after the 2020 election. The case sought to decertify Arizona presidential results. The primary court document records that the U.S. Supreme Court denied the petition for an extraordinary writ.

Senate confirms Miguel Cardona as Education Secretary

The Senate confirms Miguel Cardona as Secretary of Education by a vote of 64-33. Cardona, the former Connecticut Commissioner of Education and a former elementary school teacher, takes office as schools navigate reopening during the COVID-19 pandemic. He faces challenges including student loan forgiveness, school choice debates, and addressing learning loss.

Trump vows primary challenges against Republican senators who voted to convict

At CPAC 2021, former President Donald Trump explicitly threatened to recruit and support primary challengers against the seven Republican senators who voted to convict him in the second impeachment trial. Trump named the senators as targets and told the assembled crowd he would make sure they faced consequences in their home states. The threat was a direct assertion that the Republican Party remained under his control despite his electoral defeat.

Trump first term reinstates Twin Metals mining leases Antofagasta owner rents home to Kushner

In the early days of Trump's first term, the Department of the Interior reinstates the Twin Metals federal mineral leases near the Boundary Waters that Obama declined to renew in 2016. The reinstatement raises conflict-of-interest questions. Antofagasta's billionaire owner Andrónico Luksic purchased a $5.5 million Washington, D.C. mansion after Trump's election in 2016, which he rented to Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner throughout the first term. Environmental groups file suit. The leases will be cancelled again under Biden in 2022.

287(g) task force model launched in Mecklenburg County

Mecklenburg County Sheriff Jim Pendergraph became the first East Coast sheriff to use section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act for street-level civil immigration enforcement, moving beyond the original jail-screening model. ICE authorized Pendergraph's deputies to stop and question people in public on immigration status grounds, extending the program well beyond what it was originally designed to do. DHS appropriated $5.4 million for 287(g) in fiscal year 2006, and by year-end ICE had received 69 new applications from jurisdictions seeking similar agreements.

Thiel launches Founders Fund venture capital firm

Peter Thiel organized Founders Fund in early 2005 with Ken Howery and Luke Nosek, both PayPal co-founders, raising an initial $50 million from individual entrepreneurs. The San Francisco firm became the first institutional investor in SpaceX and Palantir and an early backer of Facebook, Airbnb, Stripe, and Anduril. By 2025 it managed roughly $17 billion in assets, giving Thiel a sustained pipeline of founder relationships and political influence vehicles.

DHS creation moves INS enforcement to new department EOIR remains in DOJ as independent adjudicator

The creation of the Department of Homeland Security under the Homeland Security Act of 2002 abolishes the INS and transfers its enforcement and services functions to the new DHS. EOIR remains within the Department of Justice as an independent adjudicatory body. The reorganization increases the structural separation between the prosecutor (DHS) and the judge (EOIR), though both remain executive-branch entities without Article III independence. Immigration courts continue to face surging caseloads and growing backlogs.

DHS restructures the INS and establishes ICE as the student visa enforcement agency

The newly created Department of Homeland Security restructures the INS into three successor agencies: USCIS (benefits and admissions), CBP (border), and ICE (enforcement). ICE assumes primary responsibility for SEVIS compliance enforcement, F-1 student status violations, and deportation proceedings. This restructuring places enforcement at the center of international student policy.

Congress abolishes the INS and moves immigration enforcement into DHS after 9/11

On March 1, 2003, the Immigration and Naturalization Service was formally abolished and its functions transferred to the newly created Department of Homeland Security under the Homeland Security Act of 2002. Enforcement went to ICE and CBP while adjudication remained under DOJ through the Executive Office for Immigration Review. The reorganization intensified enforcement and permanently reframed immigration as a national security matter, creating a structural split that would widen the gap between enforcement capacity and adjudication funding.

Bush reorganizes FEMA into DHS, stripping its Cabinet-level status and direct White House access

President Bush folded FEMA into the newly created Department of Homeland Security on March 1, 2003, demoting the agency from a Cabinet-level entity to a sub-agency under a 22-department bureaucracy. FEMA director James Lee Witt, who had rebuilt the agency under Clinton, warned that embedding it in a security-focused department would cripple its disaster-response mission. The reorganization eliminated the FEMA director's direct line to the president and placed emergency management behind a new layer of DHS leadership.

Customs and Border Protection launches as a unified border enforcement agency under the new Homeland Security Department

US Customs and Border Protection became an official agency of the Department of Homeland Security on March 1, 2003, combining employees from the US Customs Service, the Border Patrol, and immigration inspectors previously under INS. The merger created the nation first unified border management entity, placing customs, immigration enforcement, and agricultural inspection under a single operational command. Robert Bonner became CBP first commissioner, overseeing roughly 41,000 employees.

ICE created inside DHS inherits INS detention contracts, accelerating the expansion of private immigration detention

Immigration and Customs Enforcement was created on March 1, 2003 inside the Department of Homeland Security, absorbing the enforcement functions of the Immigration and Naturalization Service and inheriting all existing private detention contracts with CCA and Wackenhut. ICE's creation elevated immigration enforcement from an administrative function to a national security mission, providing political cover for rapid expansion of detention capacity through private contractors. Within five years of ICE's creation, the number of immigration detainees in private facilities doubled.

ICE launches as the primary immigration enforcement agency with no civilian detention oversight

ICE launched on March 1, 2003, absorbing INS enforcement functions and inheriting authority over the nation's immigration detention system. Congress created no independent civilian oversight body for ICE detention at its founding, leaving internal ICE inspections and the DHS Inspector General as the only checks on detention conditions. The 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act had similarly established no external oversight for immigration confinement, creating a structural gap that persisted through ICE's founding.

Homeland Security Act abolishes the INS and splits its functions into USCIS, ICE, and CBP

The Homeland Security Act of 2002 takes effect, abolishing the INS and transferring its functions to three separate DHS bureaus: USCIS (benefits and naturalization), ICE (enforcement and deportation), and CBP (border control). This organizational restructuring fragments detention authority across multiple agencies, complicating statutory interpretation of §236 "reasonable" detention standards. Detention becomes increasingly a tool of ICE rather than a court-supervised process. The reorganization shifted detention authority away from judicial oversight and toward executive discretion.

Iraq escalates Tanker War attacks Iran Kharg Island oil terminal and neutral shipping in Gulf

Iraq expands its anti-shipping campaign by attacking Iran's Kharg Island oil terminal, its main export facility, and begins striking tankers belonging to Iran's Gulf Arab trading partners. Iraq's aim is to provoke Iran into closing the Strait of Hormuz and triggering foreign military intervention. Iran retaliates by attacking Kuwaiti and Saudi tankers carrying Iraqi oil. Both sides establish exclusion zones in the Persian Gulf. The escalation marks the beginning of the most intense phase of the Iran-Iraq War's tanker war.

Reagan deploys military advisors to El Salvador without congressional notification defying War

The Reagan administration sends 56 military advisors to El Salvador to assist the government in its counter-insurgency campaign against FMLN guerrillas, declining to submit a War Powers Resolution report to Congress. The administration argues the deployment does not constitute introducing forces into hostilities. Democratic lawmakers formally protest, calling it a violation of the 48-hour notification requirement, but take no legal action.

FCC Computer Inquiry I concludes data processing services should be unregulated

The Federal Communications Commission issues its final decision in the First Computer Inquiry, concluding that computer data processing services should remain unregulated, as there are no natural or economic barriers to entry in the market. The FCC distinguishes between "pure communications" (regulated common carriers) and "pure data processing" (unregulated). This foundational decision sets the stage for light-touch internet regulation and establishes the regulatory separation between telecommunications and data services that will persist for decades.

Strauder v. West Virginia bars explicit racial exclusion from juries

The Supreme Court ruled 7-2 that West Virginia's statute explicitly barring Black men from jury service violated the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause. Justice William Strong wrote the majority opinion, holding that the law denied Black defendants the right to a jury drawn from peers of their own race. The ruling banned only statutory exclusion, leaving intact the discretionary discrimination that prosecutors and jury commissioners would use for the next century.

Congress passes Civil Rights Act of 1875 protecting public accommodations

Congress passes the Civil Rights Act of 1875 on March 1, 1875, during the final phase of Reconstruction. The law prohibits racial discrimination in inns, public transportation, theaters, and other public accommodations, and bars racial exclusion from juries. The statute represents an ambitious federal attempt to protect Black civil rights against private exclusion and public discrimination. Its protections narrow when the Supreme Court strikes down main public-accommodations provisions in the Civil Rights Cases. Congress briefly tries to use federal power to guarantee equal access before the rise of Jim Crow segregation.