INTERNACIONAL
Trump-aligned legal group fights to restore merit-based federal hiring
FIRST ON FOX — A legal group closely aligned with President Donald Trump is joining a federal court battle in Washington, D.C., to overturn a Carter-era consent decree that bars the government from using merit-based hiring, a resolution that, if overturned, would dissolve one of the most influential civil service decisions of the last 40 years.
The America First Legal Foundation (AFL), a group aligned with Trump, has filed a federal complaint in Washington, D.C., that aims to dismantle what it calls a dated and illegal effort to promote diversity in federal hiring that sidelines more qualified candidates.
«America is missing out on top talent because of an illegal, 44-year-old consent decree,» Nick Barry, senior counsel at AFL, told Fox News Digital. «We must move back to merit-based evaluations. Race and other immutable traits have no place in that process.»
JUDGE ON WARPATH PRESSES TRUMP DOJ ON ABREGO GARCIA DEPORTATION, ANSWERS LEAVE COURTROOM IN STUNNED SILENCE
Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff, with White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, speaks during a press briefing at the White House in Washington. Miller founded America First Legal after Trump’s first term. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
The lawsuit targets the Luevano consent decree, an agreement that Black and Hispanic plaintiffs struck with the government under President Jimmy Carter in 1981. The settlement ended merit-based hiring practices for federal government agencies and required written tests to be replaced with alternative assessments.
Critics of these alternative assessments, including AFL and the firm Boyden Gray, PLLC, which joined the complaint, argue they are clunky and outdated solutions that illegally promote an unfair system of race-based hiring.
«We must move back to merit-based evaluations,» Barry added. «Race, color and other immutable characteristics have no place in that evaluation.»
The Office of Personnel Management had previously asked the court to end the Carter-era system, an effort that AFL and Boyden Gray now join, arguing it violates Supreme Court precedent.
Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff for policy and U.S. Homeland Security advisor, right, speaks as President Donald Trump delivers a speech on his 100th day in office at Macomb County Community College Sports Expo Center in Warren, Mich., April 29, 2025. (Jeff Kowalsky /AFP via Getty Images)
«Being able to recruit the best and brightest to work in Washington returns dividends for the country by doing more with less,» AFL Vice President Dan Epstein told Fox News Digital. «That is what all Americans deserve from their government.»
AFL’s backing could bring new momentum to OPM’s attempt to end these hiring practices in the federal government. But it’s also likely to be met with a fair degree of criticism.
Though efforts to end or replace the 40-year-old alternative assessment systems aren’t exactly radical, the filing comes as the Trump administration continues to clash with government employees over agency budget cuts and workforce reductions.
The case, if heard in court, could reignite debate across the country over race-conscious hiring practices.
100 DAYS OF INJUNCTIONS, TRIALS AND ‘TEFLON DON’: TRUMP SECOND TERM MEETS ITS BIGGEST TESTS IN COURT
Demonstrators participate in a protest at the statehouse April 5, 2025, in Columbia, S.C. (Sean Rayford/Getty)
America First Legal, though not officially part of the Trump administration, was founded by longtime Trump advisor Stephen Miller, one of Trump’s most vocal advocates for tougher immigration enforcement, dismantling DEI programs and ending affirmative action in public education. Miller stepped down from AFL before rejoining the White House in 2025.
The effort also comes at a time when many federal agencies have struggled to cope with a massive loss of personnel and institutional knowledge due to funding cuts and other orders from DOGE, the quasi-government efficiency agency headed up by billionaire Elon Musk.
Still, AFL sees its effort as supporting OPM and ending what it argues is a virtually «impossible» standard to create a broadly used merit-based civil service exam.
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«Public service is a public trust,» Epstein said. «Presidential administrations from both parties have long advocated ending unaccountable bureaucracies that fail to do a good turn for the American people.»
Neither OPM nor the White House immediately responded to Fox News’s request for comment on the new court filing or on their views on the existing hiring practices.
Donald Trump,Politics,DOGE,Federal Courts,Immigration,Federal Courts,White House
Los ataques
Trump dice que Ucrania podría tener que ceder territorio para la paz
Residentes cerca de su edificio de apartamentos, alcanzado por un ataque con drones rusos, en medio del ataque de Rusia contra Ucrania, en la ciudad de Shakhtarske, en la región de Dnipropetrovsk, Ucrania. Foto ReutersINTERNACIONAL
Donald Trump acusó a Gustavo Petro de ser un líder narco y suspendió toda ayuda financiera a Colombia
El presidente de Estados Unidos, Donald Trump, acusó este domingo a su homólogo colombiano, Gustavo Prieto, de ser “un líder del narcotráfico” y anunció el fin de la ayuda financiera a Colombia por su supuesta inacción en la lucha contra este flagelo.
“El presidente colombiano Gustavo Petro es un líder del narcotráfico que incentiva la producción masiva de drogas, tanto en campos grandes como pequeños, por toda Colombia. Se ha convertido, con diferencia, en el mayor negocio de Colombia, y Petro no hace nada para detenerlo, a pesar de los pagos y subsidios a gran escala de EE.UU.”, indicó Trump en Truth Social.
Leé también: Israel advirtió que Hamas “pagará un alto precio por cada disparo y cada violación del alto el fuego”
La acusación coincidió con el anuncio de un nuevo ataque estadounidense a una embarcación supuestamente de narcotraficantes en el Caribe y que el Pentágono vinculó al Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN) de Colombia.
“A partir de hoy, estos pagos, o cualquier otra forma de pago o subsidio, dejarán de hacerse a Colombia. El propósito de esta producción de drogas es la venta masiva de productos a Estados Unidos, causando muerte, destrucción y estragos”, añadió el mandatario estadounidense.
Además, amenazó con que si Petro no cerraba “estos campos de exterminio de inmediato”, Estados Unidos “se los cerrará”.
La respuesta de Gustavo Petro
El mandatario colombiano reaccionó en X y aseguró que su par estadounidense “está engañado” por sus asesores.
“Le recomiendo a Trump leer bien a Colombia y determinar en qué parte están los narcos y en qué parte están los demócratas”, añadió.
El presidente colombiano, Gustavo Petro (Foto: REUTERS/Yves Herman)
Washington retiró el mes pasado a Colombia la condición de país aliado en la lucha contra el narcotráfico. Se trata de una certificación por la que recibía cientos de millones de dólares de Estados Unidos.
Colombia es el país sudamericano que más ayuda financiera recibe de Washington, según datos del gobierno estadounidense, con más de 740 millones de dólares desembolsados en 2023, el último año del que se dispone de información completa.
Leé también: Israel bombardeó el sur de la Franja de Gaza tras un presunto ataque de Hamas y peligra el acuerdo de paz
La mitad de estos pagos se destina a la lucha contra las drogas. El resto apoya programas humanitarios y alimentarios.
“Yo respeto la historia, la cultura y los pueblos de los EEUU. No son enemigos míos (…) El problema es con Trump, no con los EEUU”, dijo Petro.
Esta decisión se produce además en medio del “conflicto armado” que Estados Unidos declaró recientemente contra el narcotráfico, y que incluyó el bombardeo de hasta seis supuestas embarcaciones de narcotraficantes en el mar Caribe.
El despliegue de Estados Unidos en el Caribe, que comenzó en agosto bajo la justificación de combatir el narcotráfico cerca de las costas de Venezuela, incluye el empleo de aviones y naves por parte del país norteamericano.
Sin embargo, causó una tensión creciente entre Washington y el Gobierno de Nicolás Maduro, que ve la operación como el preludio de un posible ataque contra el país.
Nuevo ataque en el Caribe
La acusación se conoció en momentos en que Estados Unidos llevó a cabo otro ataque contra una embarcación presuntamente cargada de drogas en aguas internacionales, en el que murieron tres “narcoterroristas”, dijo el secretario de Defensa estadounidense, Pete Hegseth.
El ataque, perpetrado el viernes, tuvo como objetivo una embarcación afiliada a la guerrilla colombiana ELN que “navegaba por una ruta conocida de narcotráfico y transportaba cantidades sustanciales de narcóticos”, dijo Hegseth en X.
No especificó dónde se produjo el ataque, pero indicó que la embarcación operaba en una zona supervisada por el Comando Sur, que opera las operaciones militares estadounidenses en Latinoamérica.
Este es el último ataque estadounidense conocido desde que en agosto Washington desplegara buques de guerra en aguas internacionales del Caribe con el argumento de frenar el tráfico de drogas hacia Estados Unidos.
(Con información de AFP y EFE)
Colombia, Donald Trump, Gustavo Petro
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New York City organizers embedded in the global intifada to destroy the state of Israel moved Friday to join the controversial «No Kings» protests planned for today, despite the peace deal reached between Israel and Hamas.
«UAW Labor for Palestine» and «NYC Labor for Palestine» quietly posted a call-to-action for the «Palestine Labor Solidarity Contingent» to meet Saturday at 11 a.m. at Duarte Square between Grand Street and Canal Street in lower Manhattan and then flow into the #NoKings protests planned to protest President Donald Trump.
They’re not alone. Around the country, anti-Israel blocs are slotting themselves into the «No Kings» protests as a «Palestine Contingent» and «Socialist Contingent,» positioning their messages «front and center,» as Seattle activists put it, «from Providence to Palestine.»
‘NO KINGS’ ORGANIZER DISCOURAGES VIOLENCE FOLLOWING COAST-TO-COAST ARRESTS
Washington, Aug. 16 — Protesters gathered in Dupont Circle and marched to the White House to oppose President Donald Trump’s federalization of the Washington police department and the deployment of federal agencies and the National Guard. (Fox News Digital/Emma Woodhead) (Fox News Digital/Emma Woodhead)
The alignment underscores a strategic pivot in the global intifada’s next phase, experts say, carrying the anti-Israel message into any high-energy civic protest, even after Hamas agreed to a ceasefire by linking «Free Palestine» to domestic fights like ICE, police and «fascism.»
Billionaire donor George Soros is reportedly funding many of the organizations leading the «No Kings» protests, like Indivisible, whose co-founders, Leah Greenberg and Ezra Levin, received a $3 million two-year grant last year from Soros’s Open Society Foundations for «social welfare activities.» Details about the «Palestine Contingent» weaving into the «No Kings» protests raises new questions about the way big Democratic donors like Soros are funneling nonprofit dollars into a professional protest industry that is fractious, divisive and partisan, potentially in violation of tax and nonprofit laws.
‘NO KINGS’ MOVEMENT AND WHAT IT WANTS: INSIDE THE MESSAGE DRIVING SATURDAY’S NATIONWIDE PROTESTS
Anti-Israel protesters demonstrate in NYC on Oct. 5, 2024, ahead of the anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack. (Adam Gray for Fox News Digital)
Behind the emotion and patriotic imagery of the protests, a Fox News Digital investigation revealed that the movement’s polished «pro-democracy» branding masks a coordinated network of Democratic tax-exempt nonprofits and labor unions, political action committees, coalitions and for-profit protest consultants that include some of the most virulent activists against Israel, including self-declared socialist groups like the Party for Socialism and Liberation, Democratic Socialists of America and Students for a Democratic Society.
According to a public database of the protest’s organizers, compiled by the Pearl Project, a journalism initiative, the protest’s «partners» include 265 mostly nonprofit organizations, including some anti-Israel groups, like Jewish Voice for Peace, exploiting their nonprofit benefits to wage a political war against the sitting president. Their nonprofit status shields them from paying taxes on most of their total annual revenues of $2.9 billion, even while they engage in partisan work they aren’t supposed to be doing. Critics say they are allegedly skirting, if not violating, tax and nonprofit laws. Event organizers didn’t return requests for comment.
«They call it ‘No Kings,’ but what they’ve built is an empire of tax-exempt organizations doing the Democratic Party’s work on the taxpayer’s dime,» said Jennica Pounds, a computer scientist who runs a platform, DataRepublican.com, following the money on these organizations. «They are using every excuse in the book, from immigration to Israel, to rage-bait America. There is nothing ‘charitable’ about their professional protest enterprise, and they should be investigated for fomenting so much hate in America behind the shield of ‘charity work.’»
People march during a «No Kings» movement protest in Los Angeles, California, on June 14, amid ongoing demonstrations against a series of federal immigration raids. (David McNew/Getty Images)
Already, Trump has said that he has directed the Justice Department to investigate possible violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, has opened an investigation that follows the money to anti-Israel groups, including some of the groups who will be bringing their protest signs to the «No Kings» demonstrations.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital, «The Trump administration and the Republican Congress are committed to countering this network of left-wing violence.»
Last week, House Speaker Mike Johnson called the protests a «hate America rally.» Indeed, on June 14, at the «No Kings» protest in Philadelphia, activists from the «Palestinian Contingent,» including activists from the Council on American-Islamic Relations and Democratic Socialists of America, hissed as a woman sang the national anthem.
«Booooo! Boooooo!» they yelled, covering their faces in keffiyehs, carrying Palestinian flags and heckling bystanders, «Zionist!»
Pro-Palestine protestors wave flags throughout midtown Manhattan in New York City on Friday, November 17, 2023. The demonstrators marched through the city to demand a ceasefire from Israeli troops within Gaza. (Stephen Yang for Fox News Digital)
While organizers insist the movement transcends party lines, its structure tells a different story.
The protest network’s official «partners» include 24 Democratic political action committees that make no secret of their partisan agenda, dedicated to electing Democratic politicians. Among them are the mega-organizing groups Indivisible Action, Hollywood Democrats and the Democratic National Committee’s Washtenaw County Democratic Party in Michigan, Westside Democratic Headquarters in Los Angeles, Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club in northern California, 504 Democratic Club and College Democrats of America.
«They call it ‘No Kings,’ but what they’ve built is an empire of tax-exempt organizations doing the Democratic Party’s work on the taxpayer’s dime.» — Jennica Pounds, of DataRepublican.com
The motto of Field Team 6, another political action committee, is «Register Democrats. Save the World.» However, those PACs are just one layer of a much larger partisan infrastructure.
About one-third, or 79 groups, behind the «No Kings» protests hold 501(c)(3) status, meaning their donors receive tax deductions while the groups face strict restrictions to do «charitable» work, not political work. They are supposed to be nonpartisan. Yet most have clearly stated political agendas.
On its donation page, one of the protest partners, «Build the Resistance,» states a partisan mission to «fight against autocracy, fascism, and donald [sic].» Donations go to Oil and Gas Action Network, a 501(c)(3) that reported $1.9 million in revenues in its last tax filing.
Another 100 are 501(c)(4) political nonprofits that may do limited lobbying but still cannot devote themselves primarily to political work. Meanwhile, 24 are 501(c)(5) labor union nonprofits, like the labor unions marching against Israel in New York and the San Francisco Bay Area, that also have limits on the amount of political work they can do.
«No Kings» protests against the Trump administration are expected to be held in cities nationwide on Oct. 18, 2025. (Ringo Chiu/AFP via Getty Images)
It’s clear that the protests are all about politics. The protest’s own internal online «toolkit» mentions Trump 12 times and describes the mobilization explicitly as a direct stand against «the Trump administration,» «Trump and his enablers,» «President Trump’s authoritarian takeover» in a partisan-centered campaign.
In Rhode Island, the «Free Palestine Contingent» activists will march «FROM PROVIDENCE TO PALESTINE» to «FIGHT FASCISM! FIGHT GENOCIDE.» It connects the battles against ICE law enforcement officers and the battles of Palestinians, noting, «Military occupations and ICE violence are wreaking havoc in Black and brown communities in D.C., L.A., Chicago — and here in Providence. On the streets of U.S. cities, the same weapons and surveillance technologies the Israeli military has used to devastate Gaza are being used in escalated ways against us. What we allow fascists to do in Palestine, they will do to the entire world — and it is our duty to resist them and fight for a free Palestine.
In northern California, activists at «Bay Area Labor 4 Palestine» and Service Employees International Union Local 1021 announced yesterday, «The fight for a liberated Palestine is not over and cannot be ignored,» over a graphic for the «No Kings» protest. They instructed followers to «Bring flags, signs, keffiyehs and art» to the «No Kings» march in Oakland, Calif., at Wilma Chan Park off Jackson Street.
In New York City, the «Palestine Labor Solidarity Contingent» said its message would be very specific: «STOP ARMING ISRAEL! FUND OUR COMMUNITIES, NOT GENOCIDE & OCCUPATION! END ICE, MILITARY & POLICE TERROR…HANDS OF VENEZUELA!»
People march in the «No Kings» protest along Fifth Avenue on June 14, 2025, in New York, New York. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
Across the country, in Washington state, activists from «Seattle Against War» yesterday celebrated local organizers adding an anti-Israel activist, Tariq Ra’ouf, to the official #NoKings speaker lineup, noting it will be a «great opportunity for us to support the demands of Palestinians from the belly of the beast!»
The Party for Socialism and Liberation’s local chapter in Syracuse, N.Y., posted a similar poster with the local chapter of Democratic Socialists of America, which has Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani as its political candidate in New York City.
In Charlotte, N.C., the local chapter of the Party for Socialism and Liberation put out a call to members to assemble at 10 a.m. tomorrow for the local #NoKings protest at First Ward Park: «JOIN THE PALESTINE CONTINGENT @ THE ‘NO KINGS’ RALLY…MEET AT THE PLAYGROUND.»
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Pro-Palestine protestors wave flags as they arrive in Manhattan after marching across the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City on Saturday, December 19, 2023. Demonstrators began at the Brooklyn Museum, walking to midtown Manhattan to demand a ceasefire in Gaza. (Stephen Yang for Fox News Digital.)
With local partners, including the 501(c)(3) nonprofit Jewish Voice for Peace, activists at the Party for Socialism and Liberation noted that, post-ceasefire, they will «continue to fight for a free Palestine.» Some of the groups in the Palestine Contingent are part of the wider network of publicly acknowledged partners of the protests, like 50501.
In Eugene, Ore., activists with the Party for Socialism and Liberation are rallying members to meet the «Socialist Contingent» at the corner of Mill Road and Eighth Avenue to «march for a free Palestine» and get ICE officers «OUT of our communities.»
In Portland, a local Palestinian American activist announced, «The Nakba Is Still Not Over!» in a reference to the «humiliation» over the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. She summoned activists to the «No Kings» protests: «‼️SHOW UP FOR PALESTINE‼️»
us protests,donald trump,politics
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