If the #DOJ wins, as many experts predict it will, the entire executive branch would come under #Trump’s direct control, allowing him even greater power over federal policy, & leaving virtually no barriers to his #MassFirings of civil servants in favor of political stooges.

The #DOJ is aiming to get these cases to #SCOTUS, where it’s betting that enough of the right-wing justices will agree to overturn the high court’s own #precedent on #independent agencies — encapsulated primarily in a 1936 case called Humphrey’s Executor — & axe the removal protections that keep leadership at such entities as the #NLRB or #MSPB insulated from political will or vindictiveness.

“I think that that would be within the President’s constitutional authority under the removal power…there would be separate questions about whether that would violate other provisions of the #Constitution,” McArthur said.

Judge Justin Walker, a #Trump appointee on the panel, swooped in to try to salvage the moment, saying to the #DOJ atty that he didn’t think “you would have to go there,”pointing to the protections of the #14thAmendment.

The startling admission came in response to a federal judge’s hypothetical.

“Could the President decide that he wasn’t going to appoint or allow to remain in office any female heads of agencies or any heads over 40 years old?” Judge Karen Henderson, a Reagan appointee on the DC Circuit Court of Appeals, asked Dpty Asst AG Eric McArthur Tues in proceedings over the fired board members of two #independent agencies.

“This is, as far as I know, the first allegation that someone in a ban state is providing an abortion in direct violation of abortion laws,” said Marc Hearron of the Center for #ReproductiveRights.

In a handful of cases, charges have been brought against people who provided #abortion pills to relatives, either with their knowledge or without.

…The bans on abortions around the country have largely relied on the threat of prosecution, w/few instances in which #criminal cases have actually been filed. #Abortion providers in #Texas & other states w/ abortion bans ceased operations after the decision. #Women seeking abortions have instead had to travel to states where the procedure remains legal or have received abortion medication through the mail.

The stmnt said that she had been “charged with the illegal performance of an abortion,” which has been a second-degree #felony since the state’s near-total #AbortionBan took effect in 2022. She was also charged w/practicing #medicine without a license.

Court records released late Monday indicated that a person who worked w/Ms. Rojas, Jose Ley, 29, was also arrested & charged w/the same offenses.

#KenPaxton, the #Texas AG, said in a statement that the #midwife, Maria Margarita Rojas, operated clinics in several towns around Houston, including 2 in Harris County, the state’s most populous county, & one in Waller County, a more rural & conservative jurisdiction where the charges were brought.

"DEI judge," influencer Jack Posobiec complained on X, suggesting that she was a "diversity, equity & inclusion" hire - presumably because she is a #woman. [#Trump hired her]

Their criticism of her comes despite Justice #AmyConeyBarrett consistently voting in favour of conservative cases, from ending the landmark #RoeVWade #abortion rights to expanding #gun rights.

#SCOTUS Justice #AmyConeyBarrett was among the justices who rejected the #Trump admin's attempt to avoid paying federal contractors as part of the gutting of the #USAID program.

"She is a rattled law professor with her head up her a**," said Mike Davis, who once worked for another #SupremeCourt justice, describing Justice Barrett as "weak & timid".

[Chief Justice John Robert’s ALSO joined the majority in rejecting Trump’s argument to suspend USAID]

“For 2 years, I’ve seen firsthand how our state’s #AbortionBan has harmed my patients, with countless lives & futures changed because politicians thought their views of the right #healthcare was more important than #pregnant people & their #medical providers,” Dr. Eric M Reuss, one of the healthcare providers who brought the lawsuit over #Arizona’s 15-week ban, said in a statement.

“The advances made during the #CivilRights movement are being pushed backwards with the cancellation of #DEI,” Bryant said. “This generation owes it to the previous generation to fight to try to make America great, which is only happening through #diversity.”