Federal judges rule against Trump administration in election-official and golf course cases
Photo: NBC NewsTwo federal judges took action against the Trump administration in separate cases on Friday. In California, U.S. District Judge Trina Thompson issued an eight-page temporary restraining order, sought in a lawsuit by unions representing California election workers. It bars the administration from threatening, intimidating or coercing state and local election officials to halt processing a ballot solely because the administration alleges the voter is ineligible. The order runs through Nov. 16, after the Nov. 3 midterm elections. Thompson wrote that high-ranking DOJ and DHS officials had campaigned to intimidate officials. She said the administration's actions, which it says aim to stop unlawful noncitizen voting, would likely interfere with election administration and disenfranchise lawful voters. An appeals court ruled against the administration in California this week; a Washington state case is pending.
In Washington, D.C., U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes said at a hearing she would open a formal inquiry into whether Interior Department officials and agency and Justice Department attorneys misled the court and broke ethics rules in the fight over Trump's plan to turn East Potomac Golf Links into an 18-hole championship course. On Monday she had barred further tree removal, finding plaintiffs including the D.C. Preservation League and two golfers likely to succeed.
Left-leaning outlets split. NBC News leads with Thompson's order, quoting her ruling and noting the appeals court loss and the pending Washington case. NPR leads with the Reyes inquiry and whether officials misled the court about their plans. The right-leaning Washington Examiner covers only the golf case, quoting Reyes's "tense hearing" remarks, calling the inquiry an escalation, and detailing the environmental dispute and the Monday injunction. Both sides note that the judges were Biden appointees or give the rulings' legal basis. Alternative outlets cover both: The Hill stresses threats of criminal prosecution, while AP frames the golf case as one of two plans showing the breadth of the president's efforts to change the D.C. landscape.
How the sides differ Left sources split between the election-official order and the golf inquiry; right sources cover only the golf inquiry; alternative sources cover both, with ethics and prosecution-threat angles.
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NBC News leads with Judge Thompson's order barring intimidation of election officials, quoting her ruling and the court history. NPR reports Judge Reyes's inquiry into whether officials misled the court over the golf course.
The Hill reports the California order against threatening election officials with prosecution over noncitizen voting claims. AP reports the ethics inquiry, framing the golf course as one of two Trump plans changing Washington.
The Washington Examiner covers only the East Potomac case, quoting Judge Reyes's announcement of the inquiry. It describes the dispute as a new escalation and details the environmental claims and the Monday tree-removal injunction.