January 30, 2026 Update

Much of the country is blanketed in snow and ice. Frigid temperatures are breaking records coast to coast and, yet, people are in the street protesting, fueled by outrage and sorrow at another killing by government agents. Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse at a Veterans Hospital in Minneapolis, was shot multiple times as he legally observed and recorded the activities of border patrol agents. After the horrific murder of Renee Nicole Macklin Good just weeks earlier, this second shooting seemed to be the last straw for even some supporters of the administration. Local corporations that had been silent issued statements, some Republican lawmakers objected, and Senate Democrats were united in shutting down the government rather than funding the Department of Homeland Security (leading to a deal ahead of a shutdown). On Monday, the commander of the border patrol, Gregory Bovino, was demoted and sent back home to California, and President Trump had what he characterized as “very good calls” with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey. All of this as Judge Patrick Schiltz, a George W. Bush nominee to the District Court of the District of Minnesota, ordered the acting director of ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) to appear in court on Friday to explain why he should not be held in contempt for violating court orders by ramping up activities even as ICE is being challenged by hundreds of court cases regarding immigrants claiming to have been illegally seized. Meanwhile, ICE and border control has begun targeting Maine, a state with one of the lowest number of immigrants.

Challenges to Trump policies and actions continue in federal courts, including:

The Third Circuit Court of Appeals has declined to reconsider a three-judge panel decision to uphold Alina Habba’s disqualification as lead federal prosecutor for New Jersey. The opinion was written by Judge D. Michael Fisher (a George W. Bush nominee). It agreed that Habba was unlawfully retained after her 120-day interim term expired. This decision may tee up the case for the US Supreme Court, giving the high court the opportunity to weigh in on Trump’s efforts to retain loyalist US Attorneys.
After a federal magistrate court refused to allow arrest warrants for five protestors who allegedly disrupted a St. Paul, Minnesota, church service presided over by a clergyman who also works for ICE, the administration asked district court Judge Patrick Schiltz to override the US magistrate’s decision. In response to this unprecedented request, Judge Schiltz asked for more time to consider, leading federal prosecutors to go to the Eighth Circuit Court to ask them to force Judge Schiltz to agree with their request. A three-judge panel of the circuit court rejected that demand in a 2-1 vote with Obama-nominated Judge Jane Kelly and Trump-nominated Judge Jonathan Kobes voting with the majority. Trump-nominated Judge Steven Grasz voted against.
Judge Laura Provinzino of the District Court for the District of Minnesota (a Biden nominee) temporarily blocked the USDA from withholding tens of millions of dollars in food aid, accusing the state of fraud. In response to a suit by the state, the judge agreed that USDA failed to provide a reasonable explanation for their action and ordered that no action be taken while the lawsuit was pending, including withholding funds for the first quarter of 2026.

► Senate Judiciary Committee

The judiciary committee is expected to hold a hearing on February 4 with the following nominees: Anna St. John to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana (opposed by NCJW), John Thomas Shepherd to the United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas, and Andrew Davis and Chris Wolfe to the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas. Many groups are opposing Anna St. John, considered to be the “worst of the worst” nominees to date. She has spent her legal career silencing women, attacking LGBTQ+ rights, and cutting off corporate accountability for everyday people — and leads the Hamilton Legal Law Institute, a far-right extremist organization that routinely files lawsuits to attack civil rights, undermine consumer protections, eliminate gender equality, and deny basic human rights. The committee could vote on these nominees on February 19.

► ICYMI

(Reuters) US Supreme Court sees risk in Trump riding roughshod over Fed

(Yahoo) Mike Johnson supports impeaching 2 federal judges that ruled against Trump

(PBS) How Trump is challenging America’s judicial system in his second term

(TX Tribune) Texas defends law requiring schools to post ten commandments

(Slate) How the Supreme Court made Alex Pretti’s killing more likely