March 15

Adelson Plays Behind-the-Scenes Role in Gaza Hostage Negotiations

Senior US officials told Al-Monitor that Miriam Adelson privately urged Trump to maintain pressure on Hamas for the return of hostages taken in the October 7, 2023 attack, playing a behind-the-scenes role in shaping the administration's approach to Gaza ceasefire negotiations. The hostage issue was a central component of the talks that produced a ceasefire agreement. Adelson's access to Trump was a direct product of her $106 million campaign contribution to Preserve America.

Judge Boasberg issues emergency TRO blocking AEA deportation flights

U.S. District Court Judge Amit Boasberg issues an emergency temporary restraining order (TRO) blocking the AEA deportation flights while legal challenges proceed. The TRO is signed while the first planes are already in flight to Central America. Boasberg finds that the plaintiffs raising First Amendment and due process claims have demonstrated a likelihood of success on the merits.

Trump administration expands AI-powered social media surveillance of 33 million immigrants

The Trump administration published plans on March 15, 2025 to collect social media identifiers for more than 33 million people applying for permanent residence or adjustment of status. The State Department's "Catch and Revoke" program uses AI to scan social media and revoke visas of foreign nationals who appear to support Hamas or other designated terror groups. The Department of Homeland Security created a task force to monitor online activities of foreign students to find grounds for visa revocation. In the three months following the executive order, over 1,500 foreign students had their visas altered or revoked without explanation.

Trump orders Operation Rough Rider 1,000+ airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen

Trump orders "decisive and powerful military action" against Houthi targets in Yemen. Over 1,000 airstrikes are conducted through late April, involving the USS Harry S. Truman carrier strike group and USS Georgia cruise missile submarine. Targets include radar systems, air defenses, missiles, drones, and Houthi leaders. At least 53 killed, 98 injured according to Houthi health ministry. NSA Waltz frames the campaign as "holding Iran responsible."

Federal Courts Issue Wave of Injunctions Blocking DOGE Agency Actions

By mid-March 2025, more than a dozen federal district courts had issued temporary restraining orders or preliminary injunctions blocking specific DOGE-directed personnel actions, data access grants, and agency shutdowns. The Merit Systems Protection Board reported over 260,000 federal worker separations in the first 60 days of the administration. Courts in Washington, New York, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island ruled on cases covering Treasury access, USAID, CFPB, and OPM workforce reductions, creating a patchwork of judicial limits on DOGE operations.

ICE deports Kilmar Abrego Garcia to El Salvador despite a withholding order protecting him

ICE agents detained Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran immigrant living in Maryland with a valid withholding of removal order protecting him from deportation to El Salvador, and deported him three days later to El Salvador CECOT maximum-security prison. The Trump administration later acknowledged the deportation was an administrative error. Abrego Garcia had lived in the US for 14 years, and an immigration judge had previously found he faced gang persecution if returned to El Salvador.

Trump invokes Alien Enemies Act, authorizing mass deportation flights

President Trump invokes the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to authorize immediate deportation of undocumented immigrants. The first AEA flights depart for El Salvador carrying detained individuals, making the first use of the 1798 law in a century. Trump administration officials frame the action as part of a national security initiative. The flights proceed despite pending legal challenges.

Trump invokes Alien Enemies Act against Tren de Aragua

Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act in a proclamation targeting alleged Tren de Aragua members, using a wartime statute for immigration enforcement. The action became a major test of executive power, due process, and judicial review in the administration’s deportation agenda.

Federal Courts Begin Blocking DOGE Spending Cuts as Unconstitutional

Multiple federal district courts issued injunctions in March 2025 blocking DOGE-directed freezes of congressionally appropriated funds, citing the Impoundment Control Act and separation of powers doctrine. Judges found that DOGE lacked statutory authority to direct agencies to withhold spending Congress had mandated. The rulings established a pattern of judicial resistance that would continue through 2026 as DOGE expanded its grant cancellations across dozens of agencies.

Whistleblower Networks Document Hatch Act and Ethics Violations

Federal employee whistleblower networks mobilized in early 2025 to document Hatch Act violations and ethics breaches across executive agencies. Career civil servants used protected disclosure channels to report political pressure on official functions, creating a record of abuses as the administration expanded Schedule F and political loyalty tests.

OPM Resurrects Schedule F Stripping Civil Service Protections from Career Workforce

The Office of Personnel Management revived Schedule F, a classification that strips civil service job protections from tens of thousands of federal career employees in policy-related roles. Career workers across agencies could be reclassified and fired without standard civil service due process, effectively converting permanent positions into at-will political appointments.

Trump Unleashes Biggest Financial Deregulation Since 2018, Scrapping Basel III and Bank Merger Rules

The Trump administration moved to dismantle Basel III capital requirements and relaxed bank merger oversight rules, marking the most sweeping financial deregulation since the 2018 rollback of Dodd-Frank. Federal banking regulators withdrew proposed rules requiring large banks to hold more capital against losses, and the DOJ signaled it would apply minimal antitrust scrutiny to bank consolidations.

ICE Deploys Palantir AI to Surveil 33 Million Legal Residents

Immigration and Customs Enforcement expanded its Palantir-built ImmigrationOS platform to surveil an estimated 33 million lawful permanent residents and visa holders, far beyond undocumented immigrants. The system aggregates data from federal databases, commercial brokers, and social media to flag individuals for enforcement, raising Fourth Amendment and due process concerns.

Rubio Fires 1,353 State Dept Staff, Cuts 92% of USAID Grants in Diplomatic Overhaul

Secretary of State Marco Rubio terminated 1,353 State Department employees and cut 92% of USAID foreign assistance grants in a sweeping reorganization. The purge targeted career foreign service officers with expertise in multilateral diplomacy. Former ambassadors warned the simultaneous gutting of diplomatic staff and aid programs would create power vacuums in fragile states and cede U.S. influence to China and Russia.

Musk's Team Installs Starlink on White House Roof Without Security Clearance

SpaceX technicians installed Starlink satellite internet equipment on the White House roof at Elon Musk's direction without standard security clearance vetting of workers or review of the network's integration with classified White House communications infrastructure. NSA and Secret Service officials reportedly raised objections that were overridden. Legal experts flagged the conflict of interest between Musk's government role and his private satellite company's installation.

OMB Cuts Education Budget as Senate Delays McMahon Confirmation

The Office of Management and Budget proposed deep cuts to the Education Department budget while the Senate delayed confirming Linda McMahon as Education Secretary, leaving the department without confirmed leadership during a major reorganization. The budget proposal targeted Title I funding for low-income schools and Pell Grant administration. Education advocates warned the combination of cuts and leadership vacuum threatened K-12 programs serving 50 million students.

Biden signs ARPA-H into law new $1 billion health research agency modeled on DARPA

President Biden signs legislation creating the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), a new $1 billion federal health research agency modeled on DARPA, the agency that created the internet, stealth aircraft, and GPS. Biden first proposed ARPA-H in his 2021 address to Congress and repeated the call in his 2022 State of the Union. ARPA-H is designed to fund high-risk, high-reward health research that traditional NIH grant processes would not support, focusing on cancer, Alzheimer's, diabetes, mental illness, and infectious diseases. It becomes operational in 2022 with Renee Wegrzyn as its first director, reporting directly to the HHS Secretary.

Biden signs Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act

The Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act, part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act 2023, is signed into law by Biden on December 29, 2022. The law clarifies that the vice president's role in counting electoral votes is purely ceremonial and ministerial, not discretionary, closing the loophole Trump tried to exploit on January 6. It raises the threshold for objecting to electoral votes from 1 member of each chamber to 20% of each chamber. It clarifies that only states, not governors unilaterally, can certify electors. The law also requires courts to expedite any legal challenges to electoral certification. Biden calls it essential to ensuring January 6 can never happen again.

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Thiel Seeds Protect Ohio Values Super PAC with $10 Million

Peter Thiel made a $10 million initial donation to launch Protect Ohio Values, a super PAC formed to back JD Vance's not-yet-announced Senate campaign. Thiel later added $5 million more, bringing his total to $15 million, the largest individual donation to a single Senate candidate in history. The PAC went on to spend more on Vance advertising than Vance's own campaign committee raised.

Senate confirms Deb Haaland as Interior Secretary

The Senate confirms Deb Haaland as Secretary of the Interior by a vote of 51-40, making her the first Native American cabinet secretary in U.S. history. Haaland, a former U.S. Representative from New Mexico and member of the Laguna Pueblo, takes charge of managing public lands, tribal relations, and energy policy. Her confirmation is historic for Native American representation in federal government.

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Colorado Reaches Federal Settlement Over Competency Restoration Backlog

Colorado's Department of Human Services reached a federal settlement on March 15, 2019, ending eight years of litigation with Disability Law Colorado over chronic failures to provide timely competency evaluations and restoration services. The settlement established binding deadlines and a triage system after wait times for state hospital beds stretched past a year for some defendants, with the 449-bed Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo unable to keep pace with court orders. By 2021, 347 people awaited evaluations or restoration, with one individual waiting 325 days, forcing the state to pay millions in court-ordered fees.