TV News LIES

The Department of Homeland Security has ordered thousands of furloughed employees to return to work despite most of the agency remaining unfunded by Congress amid the longest partial government shutdown in U.S. history.

In a statement to USA TODAY, the agency said it "will be utilizing available funding" to recall its entire workforce. It wasn't clear how many employees in total have been ordered to return to work. The agency, which is among the largest departments in the federal government, employs more than 260,000 people.

The return-to-work notices come after President Donald Trump on April 3 signed a memorandum ordering all DHS employees to receive pay and benefits lost during the partial government shutdown.

In the order, Trump directed Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin to use funds with “a reasonable and logical nexus to the functions of DHS to provide each and every employee of DHS with the compensation and benefits that would have accrued to them" if not for the shutdown.

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Two immigration judges who ruled against the Trump administration in the deportation cases of pro-Palestinian university students have been fired by the Department of Justice.

The New York Times reported over the weekend that the justice department had terminated six judges, including Roopal Patel and Nina Froes, who oversaw deportation proceedings against Rümeysa Öztürk and Mohsen Mahdawi, two students who were arrested last year as part of Trump’s campaign against the Gaza protest movement.

In an interview with the Guardian, Patel said she did not view her dismissal as “directly retaliatory” for any one case. She said it fit within a broader pattern of the administration dismissing judges near the end of their probationary term, particularly those who have experience representing immigrants in court.

“I think there’s a broader agenda of trying to reshape the immigration bench to be more reflective of the political agenda of the administration,” Patel said.

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An AI-generated image President Donald Trump posted online depicting himself as a Christ-like figure sparked an uproar among some religious conservatives, including criticism that the image was blasphemous.

Less than a day later, the image of a man wearing a white caftan draped with a red shawl was removed from Trump's social media feed in what appeared to be a rare concession to critics. Trump later said the i“This is gross blasphemy,” Brilyn Hollyhand, the former chair of the Republican National Committee’s Youth Advisory Council and a self-described “full time Christian” said of the image in a social media post. “Faith is not a prop. You dhttps://pbs.twimg.com/media/HFwaOZhW0AAX2Dl?format=png&name=900x900on’t need to portray yourself as a savior when your record should speak for itself.”doctor not Jesus.

“This is gross blasphemy,” Brilyn Hollyhand, the former chair of the Republican National Committee’s Youth Advisory Council and a self-described “full time Christian” said of the image in a social media post. “Faith is not a prop. You don’t need to portray yourself as a savior when your record should speak for itself.”

The president posted the image on his Truth Social account on April 12. It depicted Trump laying his hand on the forehead of a man who appears to be in a sick bed. A light glows in Trump’s other hand and light shines around the sick man’s head. An American flag waves in the background as a bald eagle flies nearby.

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A U.S. Court of Appeals on Saturday said that construction of the White House ballroom can carry on temporarily after a judge halted construction late last month.

A three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled 2-1 that the preliminary injunction be put on pause until April 17, allowing for construction to continue. The panel asked U.S. District Judge Richard Leon, appointed by former President George W. Bush, to clarify the order in an appeal.

The panel addressed the Trump administration’s appeal arguing that leaving the ballroom unfinished would “imperil” Trump and others who live and work in the White House.

“We cannot fairly determine, on this hurried record, whether and to what extent the district court’s ‘necessary for safety and security’ exception addresses Defendants’ claims of irreparable harm, insofar as it may accommodate the Defendants’ asserted safety and security need for the ballroom itself or other temporary measures to secure the safety and security of the White House, the President, staff, and visitors while this appeal proceeds,” the panel wrote in its ruling.

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A Democratic lawmaker filed articles of impeachment on April 6 against President Donald Trump, though it faces unlikely odds of succeeding in a Republican-controlled Congress.

The impeachment resolution from Rep. John Larson, D-Connecticut, included 13 articles alleging Trump committed high crimes and misdemeanors for his conduct across a range of policy initiatives. It includes his actions taken in Iran, Venezuela and Gaza; his use of the National Guard in American cities; and his use of the presidential pardon power, among others.

"Donald Trump has blown past every requirement to be removed from office. And it's getting worse. His illegal war in Iran is not only driving up prices for American families — it has cost American lives,” Larson said in a statement. “He's becoming more unstable by the day. His profane and sacrilegious Easter Sunday and subsequent threats, including ‘a whole civilization will die’ and ‘open the Strait…or you’ll be living in hell’ not only foreshadow war crimes, but put our security at risk."

Larson is not the first lawmaker to introduce resolutions to impeach Trump since he returned to office. But the efforts have not been backed by all Democrats and were unlikely to pass the Republican-led House, let alone receive a two-thirds majority from a Republican-controlled Senate needed to convict and remove him from office.

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A California philosophy lecturer accused of assaulting federal agents after removing a tear gas canister from a crowd — the same canister that a U.S. Border Patrol agent had thrown at protesters during an immigration raid — was found not guilty by a jury on Thursday.

Jonathan Caravello, 38, faced up to 20 years in prison if he was convicted of the charge. The verdict is the latest blow to the Trump administration, which has thrown baseless assault charges at people who protest its mass deportation operations — but has repeatedly failed to secure convictions.

By the government’s own admission, no federal agent was hit or harmed by the canister, which flew over the heads of agents and landed far behind them. Prosecutors argued instead that Caravello threatened and intended to harm agents, although they failed to identify a specific individual who was supposedly at risk of being harmed. Caravello’s attorney presented evidence that Border Patrol agents deployed tear gas indiscriminately at peaceful protesters and observers without reason or warning, and that Caravello was acting in self-defense when he threw the canister away from the crowd.

The jury returned their verdict after roughly two hours of deliberation.

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