Well, the list of anti-democratic actions this week is the longest it’s been since President Donald Trump took office—and we’re barely two months in. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained a Columbia University student who led pro-Palestine protests last year, setting up a First Amendment battle. Trump also did some promo for Tesla on the White House lawn, federal agencies are rolling back plans to combat climate change, and the so-called “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) is slashing agencies left and right. But, in a surprising spot of not-so-terrible news, former Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, who has a notably pro-union record, was confirmed as Secretary of Labor.

Here’s the latest.

Anti-democratic actions

• The Trump administration took credit for ICE’s detention of Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian graduate student at Columbia University—and green-card holder—who helped lead student protests against Israel in 2024. A federal judge temporarily blocked the White House’s attempt to deport Khalil. Khalil will remain in a Louisiana ICE detention center.
• The Department of Health and Human Services offered $25,000 voluntary buyouts to all employees with a March 14 deadline to respond, NBC News reported.
• The Department of Homeland Security is conducting polygraph tests on employees in an effort to see whether employees are leaking information about immigration raids, Bloomberg Government first reported. According to the American Psychological Association, “there is little evidence that polygraph tests can accurately detect lies.”
• U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) employees were ordered to destroy and shred classified documents, which the New Republic reported could violate federal law. A federal judge—who was appointed by Trump during his first term—rejected a bid to block the order.
• Elizabeth G. Oyer, former pardon attorney for the Department of Justice, said she was dismissed after refusing to restore Mel Gibson’s right to own a gun.
• A federal judge ruled that DOGE will likely need to publicize its records thanks to its “unusual secrecy” and “unprecedented access” to classified information, according to POLITICO.
• During an event promoting Tesla on the White House lawn, Trump said he plans to classify violence against Tesla dealers as domestic terrorism, Newsweek reported. As a reminder, Tesla is run by “special government employee” and DOGE head Elon Musk. (Look, I know it’s bad, but it’s also so ridiculous that it’s funny… right?)
• The American Federation of Government Employees, the country’s largest union for federal employees, sued the Trump administration over its attempt to cancel the Transportation Security Administration’s collective bargaining agreement.
• The Washington Post first reported DOGE would cut some phone services offered by the Social Security Administration (SSA). The SSA then issued a statement saying the agency would not be eliminating phone services, and would instead require people to use two-factor authentication or prove their identity at a local SSA office to change their bank account information.
• The Department of Education laid off more than 1,300 employees. Combined with those who have resigned or retired, the agency has now lost nearly half of its employees, according to NPR.
• Federal judges ordered the White House to reinstate tens of thousands of federal employees who were laid off.

Reproductive rights

• The Department of Labor ended several child care benefits for employees, including emergency backup daycare, on-site health clinics, and child-care subsidies, HuffPost reported.
• Trump withdrew anti-abortion activist David Weldon’s nomination for Centers for Disease Control Director right before hearings were set to begin.

Immigration

• Acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris asked the Supreme Court to narrow the scope of nationwide injunctions on the Trump administration’s executive orders aimed at ending birthright citizenship.
• In reference to Khalil’s arrest, Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote on X that the U.S. “will be revoking the visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported.” The American Civil Liberties Union, which joined Khalil’s lawsuit, condemned his arrest as “unprecedented, illegal, and un-American.”
• ZETEO’s Prem Thakker reported that Rubio ordered Khalil’s detention based on his determination that Khalil residing in the U.S. “would have serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.”

Health and science

• The Department of Agriculture (USDA) revoked more than $1 billion in funding that contributed to schools and food banks purchasing food—a move that could take away free meals for millions of schoolchildren, HuffPost reported.
• The New York Times reported that Secretary of Energy Chris Wright promised to “pivot” on past efforts to combat climate change and instead embrace natural gas, whose use contributes to climate change.
• Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr. held the first “Make America Healthy Again” Commission meeting in private.
• The Environmental Protection Agency plans to close all offices that focus on disproportionate pollution levels in low-income communities, the New York Times reported.

LGBTQ+ rights

• The Guardian reported that despite multiple court orders against Trump’s executive order attacking “gender ideology,” the Bureau of Prisons is transferring transgender women to men’s prisons.
• The USDA announced it halted program and research funding for the University of Maine. The announcement comes after Maine Gov. Janet Mills told Trump that she would not enforce his executive order targeting trans athletes.