Judge Declines To Halt Federal Worker Layoffs

A federal judge is refusing to temporarily block the Trump administration’s mass layoff of federal workers while a lawsuit brought by five unions moves forward. U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper found the unions must bring their claims under federal employment law rather than in district court. Earlier Thursday, the Senate narrowly confirmed Kash Patel as director of the FBI. The confirmation places him atop the nation’s premier federal law enforcement agency despite doubts from Democrats about his qualifications and concerns he will do Trump’s bidding and go after the president’s adversaries.