TV News LIES

A U.S. judge on Monday temporarily blocked President Donald Trump's administration's sharp cuts to federal grant funding for universities, medical centers and other research institutions.

U.S. District Judge Angel Kelley's decision was a win for Democratic attorneys general from 22 U.S. states who sued on Monday in federal court in Boston to challenge cuts adopted by the National Institutes of Health to the reimbursement rate for some costs of the research institutions.

The cuts were due to take effect on Monday.

Kelley, an appointee of Democratic former President Joe Biden, scheduled a hearing for Feb. 21 for further arguments.

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A judge on Monday granted a temporary reprieve to the leader of an independent federal ethics agency who filed a lawsuit claiming he was illegally fired by President Trump.

The move by Trump was the latest attempted removal of a political appointee that may violate the law.

The Office of Special Counsel investigates and prosecutes violations of "prohibited personnel practices" like whistleblower retaliation, enforces ethics laws like the Hatch Act, and protects employment rights of military veterans.

The office's leader, Hampton Dellinger, filed a lawsuit Monday in Washington, D.C., federal court after receiving a termination email Friday night.

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President Trump has pardoned former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who was convicted of corruption-related crimes, including trying to sell a U.S. Senate seat vacated by former President Barack Obama.

Blagojevich served as the state's governor from 2003-'09. It was a political saga toward the end of his time in office.

In 2008, federal prosecutors accused Blagojevich of turning Illinois' government into a moneymaking operation for himself by trying to, among other things, shake down a children's hospital and racetrack owners. When prosecutors charged Blagojevich with corruption over the Senate seat, they presented as evidence a profanity-filled telephone conversation he had that was secretly recorded by the FBI.

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A federal judge extended indefinitely the deadline for government workers to accept a government buyout, as a lawsuit to block the offer continues in court.

U.S. District Court Judge George O’Toole heard arguments Monday over the legality of the offer, in which the Office of Personnel Management has pledged eight months of pay and benefits for those wishing to leave the federal service.

It’s O’Toole’s second extension for employees to take the offer, making a ruling just hours ahead of the original Thursday deadline to punt the timeline for taking the deal.

A federal judge in Rhode Island ordered the Trump administration to comply with his order to unfreeze federal grants, after attorneys general for several Democratic states claimed the directive was not being fulfilled.

In a short order Monday, U.S. District Judge John McConnell directed the Trump administration to “immediately” end any federal funding pause until he decides whether to indefinitely block the freeze while litigation is ongoing.

A third federal judge has blocked President Donald Trump’s order to stop providing citizenship to children born in the United States to parents without legal authorization.

U.S. District Judge Joseph Laplante issued the injunction Monday at the request of New Hampshire Indonesian Community Support. He said both sides argued their cases well, but that the Indonesian community was likely to win the case and would be harmed if the order weren't blocked now.

“Nobody threw me any curveballs this morning," Laplante said. "I’m not persuaded by the defendants’ arguments in this case."

Laplante’s order followed similar restrictions from judges in Maryland and Washington state. U.S. District Judge John Coughenour called the order “blatantly unconstitutional,” in a separate challenge in Seattle.

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