A Biden-appointed judge in Oregon on Thursday said he would block a Trump administration declaration stating that transgender medical procedures for children are not “safe” or “effective.” 
U.S. District Judge Mustafa Kasubhai sided with more than a dozen Democratic attorneys general who challenged the <a href="https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/declaration-pediatric-sex-rejecting-procedures.pdf">policy</a> issued by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in December 2025.
In that declaration, the Department of Health and Human Services said that “sex-rejecting procedures for children and adolescents are neither safe nor effective as a treatment modality for gender dysphoria, gender incongruence, or other related disorders in minors, and therefore, fail to meet professional recognized standards of health care.”
The administration <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ord.191371/gov.uscourts.ord.191371.86.0_1.pdf">argued</a> the declaration was a general statement of policy. However, Kasubhai indicated that Kennedy did not follow the required procedures in issuing it.
“The notion that ‘I will go forward and issue a declaration and see if we can get away with it’ is not a principle of governance that adheres to the overarching commitment to a democratic republic that requires the rule of law to be regarded and respected and honored as a sacred,” Kasubhai <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/19/us/rfk-jr-transgender-care-ruling.html">said</a>. 
The judge delivered a verbal ruling from the bench and said a written decision would follow. 
The declaration addressed treatments including puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries like mastectomies and vaginoplasties.
New York Attorney General Letitia James, one of the plaintiffs in the case, celebrated the ruling.  
“Health care services for transgender young people remain legal, and the federal government cannot intimidate or punish the providers who offer them,” James said. “It is my duty and my privilege to stand with trans New Yorkers and their families. I will always fight for the LGBTQ+ community.”
The ruling comes as the Trump administration has taken steps to cut off federal funding for all providers that offer such treatments to minors. In December, HHS <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-admin-to-cut-funding-from-all-hospitals-that-perform-trans-procedures-on-kids">posted rules</a> to bar hospitals providing transgender procedures to minors from participating in Medicare and Medicaid programs, and would prohibit Medicaid’s Children’s Health Insurance Program from being used for transgender procedures for individuals under 19.

FDA Unveils New Framework To Speed Ultra-Rare Drug Approvals

Your Tax Dollars Could Still Be On The Line In Fight Over Trans Surgeries for Kids

Department of Health and Human Services

Letitia James

Oregon

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Transgender

transgender surgery

WASHINGTON—The Federal Trade Commission has hired a lawyer fired by New York Attorney General Letitia James after she spoke out publicly against transgender procedures for children, The Daily Wire can first report.
Glenna Goldis will work as a senior litigator in the Bureau of Consumer Protection, a person familiar with the matter told The Daily Wire. She will spearhead investigations into any potential harms from so-called “gender affirming care.&#8221;
“Glenna is an extraordinary, brave, and intelligent woman with an impressive history of working on consumer protection matters,&#8221; said Joe Simonson, Director of Public Affairs at the FTC. &#8220;We are so excited to have her aboard.”
Goldis, a self-described &#8220;lefty lesbian lawyer,&#8221; <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/top-letitia-james-deputy-breaks-from-dems-to-speak-out-against-gender-affirming-care">previously served</a> as assistant attorney general for James, who has earned a reputation for herself as one of the most liberal and anti-Trump attorneys general in the United States.
Goldis <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/lefty-lesbian-lawyer-fired-by-letitia-james-after-opposing-transgender-procedures-for-kids">lost her position</a> in James&#8217; consumer fraud bureau after she spoke out against the dangers of so-called treatments like puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for minors. In July, The Daily Wire first reported that Goldis had <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/Healthcare-Workshop-Speakers-July-9-2025.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">participated</a> in an FTC roundtable on transgender procedures in her private capacity.
“Today I was fired by NY Attorney General Letitia James for speaking out against pediatric gender medicine (PGM),” Goldis shared on X in late January. “I was an attorney in [New York Attorney General’s] consumer frauds bureau, which did not work on anything related to PGM. Since 2024 I’d been raising the alarm publicly and within NYAG that PGM providers may be engaged in a dangerous consumer fraud. James’s officials treated me like a pest.”
<div id="attachment_1039081" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-admin-hires-glenna-goldis-lawyer-fired-by-letitia-james/together-for-democracy-2026-hosted-by-democracy-forward" rel="attachment wp-att-1039081"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1039081" class="wp-image-1039081 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2259080544-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2259080544-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2259080544-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2259080544-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2259080544.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /></a>New York Attorney General Letitia James (Photo by Paul Morigi/Getty Images for Democracy Forward)</div>
Goldis says that James&#8217;s team “struggled” to figure out what, exactly, was problematic about her public statements. They finally landed on Goldis&#8217;s writing on United States v. Skrmetti, a Supreme Court case dealing with transgender medical procedures for kids, and said that the lawyer&#8217;s work contradicted James&#8217;s legal position on the topic.
<div class="ad-wrapper" data-narration-ignore="true" data-testid="ad-wrapper">James has not only spoken in support of “gender-affirming care,” but also taken legal action against Trump’s efforts to protect children from transgender surgeries, hormones, and puberty blockers.</div>
<div data-narration-ignore="true" data-testid="ad-wrapper"></div>
<div class="ad-wrapper" data-narration-ignore="true" data-testid="ad-wrapper">James called Trump&#8217;s policies “cruel, discriminatory, dangerous, and not based on science or law,” pushing the falsehood that transgender surgeries, hormones, and puberty blockers are “medically necessary” as she argued that “every young person deserves access to medically necessary care without government interference.”</div>
Her team reportedly told Goldis that she could not “take public legal positions that conflict” with James under the Rules of Professional Conduct. She contests this claim and accuses James of trying to cow her “into silence.”
A spokesman for James confirmed to The Daily Wire in late January that Goldis had been fired.
<div id="attachment_1039079" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-admin-hires-glenna-goldis-lawyer-fired-by-letitia-james/ftc-chair-andrew-ferguson-interview" rel="attachment wp-att-1039079"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1039079" class="wp-image-1039079 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2230622343-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2230622343-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2230622343-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2230622343-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2230622343.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /></a>Andrew Ferguson, chair of the Federal Trade Commission (Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty Images)</div>
“The Office of the Attorney General has rules and protocols for employees who engage in activities that can impact the work, operations, or integrity of the office,” the spokesman said at the time. “This employee’s flagrant and repeated disregard of these rules and protocols disrupts and undermines our efforts to protect the rights of all New Yorkers.”
In her new capacity at the FTC, Goldis will likely be an asset in the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ftc-takes-major-step-in-war-on-trans-procedures-for-kids">FTC&#8217;s investigation</a> into whether minors and consumers have been harmed by transgender medical procedures — and whether medical professionals “have violated Sections 5 and 12 of the FTC Act by failing to disclose material risks associated with ‘gender-affirming care’ or making false or unsubstantiated claims about the benefits or effectiveness of ‘gender-affirming care.&#8217;”
<div data-narration-ignore="true" data-testid="ad-wrapper">
In May, The Daily Wire first <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-federal-trade-commission-is-setting-its-sights-on-transgender-procedures-on-kids" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that the FTC would be holding a workshop on “gender-affirming care,&#8221; often a sign that the commission is preparing to initiate legal action against an industry.
“Under the Federal Trade Commission Act, the FTC is provided broad authority to protect consumers from unfair and deceptive trade acts and practices,” an FTC memo on the workshop said. “There is now considerable reason to believe that the doctors and medical providers pushing [gender-affirming care] on minors are knowingly deceiving parents by exaggerating [gender-affirming care’s] ‘benefits’ and downplaying its harmful side effects.”
The FTC held the workshop on July 9 and featured academics, commentators, parents, doctors, and detransitioners — young people who attempted to transition, spurred on by activists and medical professionals who falsely promised them that they could change their gender.
FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson told the detransitioners: “The FTC hears you, we hear all of you, and we want to understand how the law is being broken.&#8221;
</div>

Goldis

Trump Admin Hires Glenna Goldis, Lawyer Fired By Letitia James

A self-described “lefty lesbian lawyer” says she was fired by New York Attorney General Letitia James after months of publicly speaking out against transgender medical procedures for children. 
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/top-letitia-james-deputy-breaks-from-dems-to-speak-out-against-gender-affirming-care">Glenna Goldis</a> lost her position in the consumer fraud bureau after warning about the dangers of so-called treatments like puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for minors. In July, Goldis <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/Healthcare-Workshop-Speakers-July-9-2025.pdf">participated</a> in a Federal Trade Commission roundtable on transgender procedures in her private capacity. 
“Today I was fired by NY Attorney General Letitia James for speaking out against pediatric gender medicine (PGM),” Goldis posted on X. “I was an attorney in [New York Attorney General&#8217;s] consumer frauds bureau, which did not work on anything related to PGM. Since 2024 I&#8217;d been raising the alarm publicly and within NYAG that PGM providers may be engaged in a dangerous consumer fraud. James&#8217;s officials treated me like a pest.”
Goldis said that James&#8217;s lawyers “struggled” to identify what was problematic about her public statements. 
“When the general counsel finally identified an objectionable line in my blog, it was where I stated the holding of US v. Skrmetti (banning [pediatric gender medicine] isn&#8217;t discriminatory). She wrote that it contradicted James&#8217;s legal position,” Goldis said. 
Goldis said she was told that she was not allowed to &#8220;take public legal positions that conflict” with James under the Rules of Professional Conduct. She said that the claim was inaccurate and accused the attorney of trying to cow her “into silence.”
James has been a vocal supporter of transgender medical procedures for minors and previously sued to block President Donald Trump’s executive order cutting federal funding to institutions that facilitate such interventions. 
A spokesman for James confirmed Goldis&#8217;s firing to The Daily Wire. 
“The Office of the Attorney General has rules and protocols for employees who engage in activities that can impact the work, operations, or integrity of the office,” the spokesman said. “This employee’s flagrant and repeated disregard of these rules and protocols disrupts and undermines our efforts to protect the rights of all New Yorkers.”
Goldis said her social circles are “full of progressive lawyers.” 
“I&#8217;m a lesbian, i.e., a ‘member of the LGBTQ community’ that James purports to champion. I tried to explain to NYAG officials that PGM, by its nature, targets children who defy sexed norms — whom studies show are more likely to be gay when they grow up,” she said Thursday. “If Letitia James actually cared about ‘LGBTQ’ youth then she&#8217;d research ‘gender’ drugs and learn what they do. Instead, she glibly calls the drugs ‘safe’ and fires me for contradicting her.”
Goldis said she hopes Democratic officials will one day move away from the party&#8217;s intolerance of dissent on transgender-related policy.
“In the end, NYAG accused me of engaging in ‘disruptive public speech.’ Unfortunately, that&#8217;s not true. I haven&#8217;t disrupted the Democratic elite&#8217;s zombie-like devotion to PGM providers,” she said. “But I&#8217;m just getting started.”
Ahead of her appearance at the FTC roundtable, Goldis told The Daily Wire she wanted to end what she described as a &#8220;taboo&#8221; on criticizing the transgender medical industry. 
“I want to end that, I want to break the taboo,” she said. “There’s a taboo out there which is just performing so much work for the gender doctors. The healthcare industry is able to make all this money and pass off all these lies because there’s a taboo against criticizing it. And so I want to smash that taboo.”

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‘Lefty Lesbian Lawyer’ Fired By Letitia James After Opposing Transgender Procedures For Kids

New York

WASHINGTON — After years of criticizing Donald Trump, the president&#8217;s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, is admitting that he was &#8220;pressured&#8221; and &#8220;coerced&#8221; by Alvin Bragg and Letitia James to testify against Donald Trump.
In an astonishing <a href="https://substack.com/home/post/p-184816368">Substack post published Friday evening</a>, Cohen writes that he &#8220;felt pressured and coerced to only provide information and testimony that would satisfy the government’s desire to build the cases against and secure a judgment and convictions against President Trump.&#8221; He said the feeling began from his very first meetings with the lawyers working with Bragg and James, New York&#8217;s attorney general. 
Specifically regarding James, he said he felt &#8220;compelled and coerced to deliver what they were seeking.&#8221;
&#8220;Letitia James made it publicly known during her 2018 campaign for attorney general that, if elected, she would go after President Trump,&#8221; Cohen writes in the post. &#8220;Her office made clear that the testimony they wanted from me was testimony that would help them do just that. Again, I felt compelled and coerced to deliver what they were seeking.&#8221;
In a Friday night phone conversation, Donald Trump told The Daily Wire that this was further proof that it was a &#8220;very corrupt investigation&#8221; that Cohen testified in. Trump has long held that Cohen is a liar, and was only cooperating to get his prison sentence reduced.
Cohen writes about the two trials in which he testified against Donald Trump: the first, a civil action brought by the New York attorney general&#8217;s office accusing Trump of fraudulently inflating his assets to get favorable loans. The second case was a criminal action by the Manhattan District Attorney&#8217;s Office alleging that Trump falsified business records related to hush money payments to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal to influence the 2016 presidential election.
The jury found Trump guilty in both cases.
<div id="attachment_1029249" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-michael-cohen-says-he-was-coerced-and-pressured-by-bragg-james-to-testify-against-trump/former-trump-lawyer-michael-cohen-testifies-before-house-oversight-committee-4" rel="attachment wp-att-1029249"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1029249" class="wp-image-1029249 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-1127745676-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-1127745676-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-1127745676-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-1127745676-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-1127745676.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /></a>Michael Cohen, former attorney and fixer for President Donald Trump, prepares to testify before the House Oversight Committee on Capitol Hill, February 27, 201,9 in Washington, DC.  (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)</div>
Cohen served prison time after he pleaded guilty in 2018 to multiple crimes, including lying to Congress. He also <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/michael-cohen-admits-to-stealing-while-on-stand-at-trumps-nyc-trial" target="_blank" rel="noopener">admitted</a> during Trump’s hush money trial that he stole tens of thousands from the Trump Organization in 2017.
In his Substack article, Cohen notes that a federal appeals court just revived the president&#8217;s effort to undo his hush money conviction. He reflects that silently letting the record stand without proper context feels like complicity, prompting him to speak out.
&#8220;I am not writing this to defend Donald Trump, nor to relitigate his conduct,&#8221; he writes. &#8220;That ground has been plowed endlessly, often loudly, and rarely thoughtfully. I am writing because I have seen this system from the inside, not as an observer or analyst, but as a central subpoenaed participant. When courts now revisit questions of jurisdiction, immunity, and evidentiary boundaries, they are not engaging in sterile procedural debates. They are exposing how justice is pursued, how power is applied, and how outcomes are shaped well before verdicts are rendered.&#8221; 
Cohen writes that he first met with prosecutors from the Manhattan DA&#8217;s office in August 2019, three months into his three-year prison sentence. He was released in September 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic and for good behavior and allowed to serve out the rest of his term at home until November 2021.
<div id="attachment_1029251" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-michael-cohen-says-he-was-coerced-and-pressured-by-bragg-james-to-testify-against-trump/former-trump-lawyer-michael-cohen-testifies-before-house-oversight-committee-5" rel="attachment wp-att-1029251"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1029251" class="wp-image-1029251 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-1127745692-864x576.jpg" alt="WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 27: Michael Cohen, former attorney and fixer for President Donald Trump is sworn in before testifying before the House Oversight Committee on Capitol Hill February 27, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-1127745692-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-1127745692-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-1127745692-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-1127745692.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /></a>Michael Cohen, former attorney and fixer for President Donald Trump is sworn in before testifying before the House Oversight Committee on Capitol Hill February 27, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)</div>
He says he continued meeting with prosecutors after his release in the hope that his home confinement and supervised release would be shorter because he was cooperating. He also writes that the reason he cooperated with the prosecutors from the Manhattan DA’s office was that he wanted to get out of prison and home to his family. 
&#8220;During my time with prosecutors, both in preparation for and during the trials, it was clear they were interested only in testimony from me that would enable them to convict President Trump,&#8221; he wrote. &#8220;When my testimony was insufficient for a point the prosecution sought to make, prosecutors frequently asked inappropriate leading questions to elicit answers that supported their narrative.&#8221; 
Cohen says that he also felt coerced and pressured into giving answers that supported the narrative from James, as her office made it very clear to him that they wanted testimony that would help them go after Trump.
&#8220;Letitia James and Alvin Bragg may not share the same office or political calendar, but they share the same playbook,&#8221; he writes. &#8220;Both used their platforms to elevate their profiles, to claim the mantle of the officials who &#8216;took down Trump.&#8217; In doing so, they blurred the line between justice and politics; and in that blur, the credibility of both suffered.&#8221;
As for why he is speaking out now, Cohen says he has &#8220;witnessed firsthand the damage done when prosecutors pick their target first and then seek evidence to fit a predetermined narrative.&#8221; 
&#8220;I have lived inside that process,&#8221; he wrote. &#8220;I have suffered from that process. And as courts now reconsider where the Bragg and James cases belong, how they were brought and how they were tried; that experience is relevant. More today than ever before.&#8221; 
&#8220;When politics and prosecution become indistinguishable, public trust erodes; not just in individual cases, like mine and/or Trump’s, but in the system itself,&#8221; he concludes. &#8220;That erosion serves no one, regardless of party, personality, or power.&#8221;

Michael Cohen Appears Before New York Grand Jury While Speculation Over A Trump Indictment Grows

BREAKING: Michael Cohen Says He Was ‘Coerced’ And ‘Pressured’ By Bragg, James To Testify Against Trump

Alvin Bragg

Donald Trump

Michael Cohen

The Justice Department&#8217;s mortgage fraud case against New York Democratic Attorney General Letitia James was dealt another blow on Thursday when a grand jury in Virginia declined to indict her, according to multiple reports.
After prosecutors presented evidence before a grand jury in Alexandria, Virginia, on Thursday, the jury refused to sign off on an indictment. Abbe Lowell, a lawyer for James, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/grand-jury-again-rejects-charges-trump-sought-against-ny-attorney-general-james-2025-12-11/">said</a> that the grand jury&#8217;s decision &#8220;makes even clearer that this case should never have seen the light of day.&#8221;
James has argued that the Justice Department&#8217;s case against her is &#8220;retribution&#8221; for her civil fraud case against President Donald Trump and his company. James was indicted by a federal grand jury in October on felony charges of bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution, but the case against her hit a roadblock last month when a federal judge <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/federal-judge-tosses-charges-against-james-comey-letitia-james?author=Tim+Pearce&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Federal+Judge+Tosses+Charges+Against+James+Comey%2C+Letitia+James">dismissed</a> it and threw out the initial indictment after finding that the Trump-appointed prosecutor overseeing the case was unlawfully appointed.
The federal grand jury&#8217;s rejection on Thursday is the second time the Justice Department has been rebuffed after accusing James of fraudulently claiming a house in Virginia as her primary home in 2023 while serving as New York&#8217;s attorney general. Last week, after the Justice Department refiled the case against James, a grand jury declined to indict her.
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The mortgage fraud allegations against James stem from her purchase of a three-bedroom home in Norfolk, Virginia, in 2020. James secured favorable loan terms by claiming that the house was her secondary residence, according to the indictment. However, the indictment states that James did not use the house as a residence, instead renting it out to a family, The Wall Street Journal <a href="https://www.wsj.com/politics/justice-department-secures-indictment-of-new-york-attorney-general-letitia-james-0cc2ce4f?gaa_at=eafs&amp;gaa_n=ASWzDAjz3_xVxqjqGd7DOAjeW9OF_fgoGbzqZNeWtCjLpTn-BtEnWes9wDcj_m33JUg%3D&amp;gaa_ts=68e822e1&amp;gaa_sig=8uhDExWB_EYX_l_bkm5ln2OOTBmY2wZMaB-DdqgJDjcxIxhcKe5QqAAS2ER6wvES1alU0eaHvP7KW_UXYdeMtA%3D%3D">reported</a>. James allegedly saved nearly $19,000 from the favorable loan rates.
The Justice Department could attempt to indict James again, but with a second grand jury rejection, a judge could be skeptical of another push by the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia to bring a case against James.
Charges against former FBI Director James Comey were also tossed after the federal judge found that President Donald Trump&#8217;s appointment of Lindsey Halligan as the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia was unlawful. The Justice Department could also refile charges against Comey after accusing him of giving false statements and obstruction of a congressional proceeding. The charges stemmed from testimony Comey delivered to Congress in 2020 on his handling of the FBI investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

Grand Jury Refuses To Indict Letitia James In Another Blow To DOJ’s Effort To Revive Case

Courts

Department of Justice

Trump Administration

U.S.

A coalition of pro-life crisis pregnancy centers won a big victory on Monday against New York Attorney General Letitia James over her targeting of organizations that promote a protocol that can help a mother save her child if she regrets taking an abortion pill.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit <a href="https://adflegal.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/nifla-v-james-2025-12-01-appellate-opinion.pdf">affirmed</a> that the coalition has a First Amendment right to speak about the abortion pill reversal protocol, a process that is meant for women who want to counter the effects of taking an abortion-inducing drug. In 2024, James <a href="https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/2024/attorney-general-james-sues-anti-abortion-group-and-11-new-york-crisis-pregnancy">sued</a> 11 faith-based pregnancy centers for their promotion of the protocol, claiming they were spreading false and misleading information.
“Many women regret their abortions, and some change their minds after taking the first abortion drug and want to try to save their unborn babies’ lives. They should be allowed to hear about this option and make that choice,” said Caroline Lindsay, a lawyer for Alliance Defending Freedom who represented the coalition in court.
The protocol is a method <a href="https://lozierinstitute.org/abortion-pill-reversal-a-record-of-safety-and-efficacy/">backed</a> by a coalition of pro-life organizations and involves a woman taking a prescribed dose of bioidentical progesterone to potentially reverse the effects of Mifepristone and save an unborn child if she changes her mind at the last minute about going through with the abortion.
The coalition was composed of the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates, Gianna’s House, and Options Care Center. While James did not sue them over the abortion pill reversal protocol, they argued in court that her actions could infringe on their free speech rights. A district court agreed, granting the coalition an injunction against James. The appeals court on Monday upheld that decision.
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“The district court correctly determined that the speech at issue is noncommercial because, based on the uncontroverted evidence in the current record, the speech is religiously and morally motivated, the [National Institute of Family and Life Advocates] plaintiﬀs receive no remuneration or other financial benefit for engaging in it, and, as the NIFLA plaintiﬀs do not provide [Abortion Pill Reversal] themselves, the speech serves only to provide the public with information about [Abortion Pill Reversal] and access to third-party providers that can oﬀer [Abortion Pill Reversal],” the judges wrote.
In May 2024, James <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-york-crisis-pregnancy-centers-pick-up-legal-victory-against-letitia-james">announced</a> a suit against Heartbeat International and 11 pregnancy center organizations for promoting the abortion pill reversal protocol. James claimed that the organization was “spreading dangerous misinformation by advertising &#8216;abortion reversals&#8217; without any medical and scientific proof.”
Heartbeat International says that the lives of over 7,000 babies have been saved through the abortion pill reversal protocol. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on whether a Christian pregnancy center can challenge New Jersey over a wide-ranging subpoena it issued related to the protocol.

NYC Early Voting Surges Ahead Of Nov. 4 Mayoral Election

Pro-Life Pregnancy Centers Pick Up Big Win Against New York AG Letitia James

Abortion

Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF)

First Amendment

pregnancy centers

A coalition of officials from 20 states and the District of Columbia sued the Trump administration on Tuesday over the government’s plan to overhaul an Obama-era approach to homelessness.
Nineteen state attorneys general and two governors joined the <a href="https://ag.ny.gov/sites/default/files/court-filings/washington-et-al-v-united-states-department-of-housing-and-urban-development-et-al-complaint-2025.pdf">lawsuit</a>, <a href="https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/2025/attorney-general-james-sues-trump-administration-protect-billions-dollars-fight">led</a> by New York Democratic Attorney General Letitia James. The lawsuit seeks to stop reforms to the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s &#8220;Continuum of Care&#8221; program funding, which provides grants to groups that provide housing to homeless people and families.
The Trump administration plans to significantly reduce funds allocated to so-called “Housing First” providers. Under the department’s current homelessness grant structure, nearly all funding goes to providers that offer housing without requiring tenants to stay sober, pursue job training, or participate in other support services.
“HUD has adopted new policies, without any meaningful public input, that reverse the agency’s longstanding support for Housing First policies and fundamentally undermine the goal of providing dependable housing,” the lawsuit states. “A Housing First model provides stable housing to individuals without preconditions like sobriety or minimum income. It is a model that Congress, experts, and, until recently, HUD itself, have agreed improves housing stability and health while reducing costs.”
The lawsuit argues that the Trump administration’s proposed changes to the Continuum of Care program “are unlawful several times over.”
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The Housing First strategy was introduced to federal programs under the administration of former President George W. Bush. Housing First was massively expanded under former President Barack Obama, who <a href="https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/economy/article24585973.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">promised</a> in 2010 to eliminate homelessness within a decade with major reforms to the federal approach to homelessness.
Critics of Housing First say the strategy has led to a backsliding in efforts to combat homelessness in the United States. Critics argue that the approach falls short by failing to address the root causes of homelessness, such as economic insecurity, mental illness, and drug addiction.
A 2022 <a href="https://ciceroinstitute.org/research/housing-first-is-a-failure/">report</a> by the Cicero Institute shows that, contrary to the Obama administration’s 2010 aims, homelessness in the United States has significantly worsened in areas that rely on a Housing First approach. The study found that homelessness increased by nearly 25% in areas that exclusively rely on the Housing First model.
Rep. Andy Barr, a Kentucky Republican, is <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/this-republican-congressman-wants-to-end-the-progressive-policy-hurting-the-homeless">leading</a> an effort in Congress to address the federal government’s reliance on the housing first model. Barr, who is running to replace outgoing Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), has introduced legislation to cut funding for housing providers that use the Housing First approach.
“Housing First policy shuts out providers who offer critical wraparound services that are often essential for helping individuals break the cycle of homelessness,” Barr said. “We need to abandon HUD’s exclusive reliance on Housing First in favor of an all-hands-on-deck approach to equip the best and most effective providers with the federal funds needed to end homelessness.”
The states suing include Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin, along with the commonwealths of Kentucky and Pennsylvania.

Barack Obama

20 States Sue To Block Trump’s Cuts To Failed Obama Homelessness Policy

20 States Sue After Trump Makes Cuts To Failed Obama-Era Approach To Homelessness

Homelessness

Housing

Politics

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi warned former FBI Director James Comey and New York AG Letitia James on Monday that the Department of Justice is not done with them, promising an appeal after a federal judge dismissed charges against the pair.
&#8220;We’ll be taking all available legal action, including an immediate appeal, to hold Letitia James and James Comey accountable for their unlawful conduct,&#8221; Bondi told the press on Monday, Fox News reported.
&#8220;I’m not worried about someone who has been charged with a very serious crime,&#8221; she said specifically of Comey. &#8220;His alleged actions were a betrayal of public trust.&#8221;
U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie dismissed charges without prejudice against both Comey and James on procedural grounds, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/federal-judge-tosses-charges-against-james-comey-letitia-james?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Tim+Pearce&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=3&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=Federal+Judge+Tosses+Charges+Against+James+Comey%2C+Letitia+James">The Daily Wire</a> reported Monday. Currie said Lindsey Halligan, the Trump-appointed prosecutor who secured their indictments, was unlawfully serving as interim U.S. attorney.
President Donald Trump appointed Halligan to serve as interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, replacing former U.S. attorney Erik Siebert. Siebert resigned from the position after leading investigations into Comey and James, but stopping short of filing charges. Halligan was previously a member of Trump’s legal team.
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&#8220;We have made Lindsey Halligan a special U.S. attorney so she is in court, she can fight in court just like she was, and we believe we will be successful on appeal,&#8221; Bondi said.
&#8220;And I&#8217;ll tell you, Lindsey Halligan, I talked to all of our U.S. attorneys, the majority of them around the country, and Lindsey Halligan is an excellent U.S. attorney,&#8221; she added. &#8220;And shame on them for not wanting her in office.&#8221;
The Justice Department <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/comey-indicted-for-lying-to-congress-no-one-is-above-the-law">indicted</a> Comey in September on charges of giving false statements and obstruction of a congressional proceeding. The charges stemmed from testimony Comey delivered to Congress in 2020 on his handling of the FBI investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
The department <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/letitia-james-indicted-following-doj-probe-into-2023-sweetheart-home-loan">brought</a> charges against James in October, over a loan she received in 2023 to secure a mortgage on a house in Virginia. James allegedly claimed the Virginia home as her primary residence while working as New York’s attorney general, a position which requires James to live in the state of New York. James secured more favorable terms on the mortgage, while the home was occupied by a relative of James instead.
James made a name for herself by leading a civil fraud case against Trump. The case was widely viewed as highly controversial and unprecedented legal warfare, especially since James expressly campaigned on “leading the resistance” to “take on” Trump.
Tim Pearce contributed to this report.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/federal-judge-tosses-charges-against-james-comey-letitia-james?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Tim+Pearce&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=3&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=Federal+Judge+Tosses+Charges+Against+James+Comey%2C+Letitia+James">Federal Judge Tosses Charges Against James Comey, Letitia James</a>

Pam Bondi

Not So Fast: Pam Bondi Has Message For James Comey And Letitia James

Not so Fast: AG Pam Bondi Has Message For James Comey And Letitia James

James Comey

A federal judge on Monday dismissed charges against former FBI head James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie dismissed the charges against both Comey and James after finding that Lindsey Halligan, the Trump-appointed prosecutor who secured their indictments, was unlawfully serving as interim U.S. attorney.
“I agree with Mr. Comey that the attorney general’s attempt to install Ms. Halligan as interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia was invalid. And because Ms. Halligan had no lawful authority to present the indictment, I will grant Mr. Comey’s motion and dismiss the indictment without prejudice,” Currie wrote in an order dismissing the case against the former FBI head, according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/24/nyregion/james-comey-case-dismissed.html">The New York Times</a>.
The judge dismissed the charges against James in a similar order. The pair of rulings is a setback for President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice, which has brought several high-profile cases against top Trump antagonists.
Prosecutors could attempt to refile the charges against Comey and James, or the department could appeal the judge&#8217;s rulings.
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Trump appointed Halligan, previously a member of Trump’s legal team, to serve as interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, replacing former U.S. attorney Erik Siebert. Siebert resigned from the position after leading investigations into Comey and James, but stopping short of filing charges.
The Justice Department <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/comey-indicted-for-lying-to-congress-no-one-is-above-the-law">indicted</a> Comey in September on charges of ​​giving false statements and obstruction of a congressional proceeding. The charges stemmed from testimony Comey delivered to Congress in 2020 on his handling of the FBI investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
The department <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/letitia-james-indicted-following-doj-probe-into-2023-sweetheart-home-loan">brought</a> charges against James in October over a loan she received in 2023 to secure a mortgage on a house in Virginia. James allegedly claimed the Virginia home as her primary residence while working as New York’s attorney general, a position which requires James to live in the state of New York. James secured more favorable terms on the mortgage, while the home was occupied by a relative of James instead.
Comey and James denied the charges against them.
Trump has openly disdained Comey and James, while denying accusations that he directed the Justice Department to file charges against either.
“You don’t have to instruct them because they were so dirty, they were so crooked, they were so corrupt that the honest people we have … go after them automatically,” <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-says-bolton-comey-james-were-so-dirty-doj-had-no-choice-but-to-prosecute">said</a> Trump earlier this month.

James Comey, Letitia James

Federal Judge Tosses Charges Against James Comey, Letitia James

State Attorney General Letitia James (D-NY) called on Monday for the mortgage fraud charges against her to be dropped, arguing in a 22-page filing that President Donald Trump&#8217;s administration had engaged in &#8220;outrageous government conduct&#8221; in bringing the case in the first place.
Attorneys representing James argued in the filing that the charges themselves were &#8220;patently unconstitutional,&#8221; according to a CBS News <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/letitia-james-mortgage-fraud-charges-dropped-outrageous-government-conduct/?ftag=CNM-00-10aab7e&amp;linkId=879195998">report</a>. They claimed that several officials within the Trump administration had embarked upon &#8220;months of unethical behavior&#8221; culminating in the allegation that she&#8217;d bought property in the state of Virginia, calling it a &#8220;second home&#8221; to secure a lower interest rate but instead turning it out as a rental property.
&#8220;If this brazen, continuous disregard for the law and the Constitution is not outrageous government conduct, nothing is,&#8221; the attorneys claimed, naming Fair Housing Finance Authority (FHFA) Director Bill Pulte, top Justice Department official Ed Martin, and interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan in the filing.
Pulte was the one who sparked the investigation into the New York Attorney General — who had herself run on a platform of &#8220;getting Trump&#8221; and then willed a case into reality in her attempt to follow through. Pulte referred James for prosecution, but her attorneys claimed that he had &#8220;transformed the little-known agency into a weapon to be brandished against President Trump&#8217;s political enemies.&#8221;
They also attacked the Justice Department&#8217;s special attorney for mortgage fraud, Ed Martin – who called for James to resign shortly after the charges were filed — arguing that he &#8220;has engaged in a well-documented series of actions that cannot be described as anything but outrageous.&#8221;
&#8220;The letter was not an attempt to investigate the facts, nor did it hide his plain intention to pressure the sitting Attorney General of New York to resign from office or face criminal prosecution,&#8221; the lawyers said, also asserting that it represented a violation of &#8220;various codes of professional responsibility and ethics,&#8221; among other things.
They were equally displeased with Halligan, and claimed that the case against James amounted to &#8220;vindictive prosecution.&#8221;
The attorneys concluded by claiming that the Trump administration was out to &#8220;punish AG James for daring to take a stand against the President—both in this Court and by making the investigation of her so public and intrusive that the pre-trial process itself serves as punishment.&#8221;

New York State Attorney General Letitia James makes an

Letitia James Wants Her Fraud Case Tossed Because Of ‘Outrageous Government Conduct’

Letitia James Wants Her Fraud Case Tossed Because Of 'Outrageous Government Conduct'

Fraud

Lawfare

President Donald Trump denied that recent prosecutions against some of his most vocal critics amount to “political retribution,” saying the accused “were so dirty, they were so crooked&#8221; that prosecution was necessary.
Trump sat for an <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/read-full-transcript-norah-odonnell-60-minutes-interview-with-president-trump/">interview</a> with CBS News’ “60 Minutes,” his first interview with the program in five years. CBS correspondent Norah O&#8217;Donnell asked the president about recent Justice Department cases brought against his former national security adviser John Bolton, former FBI chief James Comey, and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
Asked if the prosecutions amount to retribution, Trump reminded O’Donnell that he was indicted first.
“You know who got indicted? The man you&#8217;re looking at. I got indicted, and I was innocent. And here I am, because I was able to beat all of the nonsense that was thrown at me,” Trump responded.
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“These people are scum. And yet, when you go after a dirty cop like Comey or a guy like Bolton, who I hear has, I don’t know anything about it, I hear he took records all over the place,” Trump continued. “Letitia James is a terrible, dishonest person, in my opinion. Terrible. I just won the case against her. She wanted me to pay $500 million for something I didn’t do anything wrong on. And the judge just overturned the decision.”
Comey was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/comey-indicted-for-lying-to-congress-no-one-is-above-the-law">indicted</a> in September on charges of ​​giving false statements and obstruction of a congressional proceeding. The charges against Comey stem from testimony he delivered to Congress in 2020 on his handling of the FBI investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
Bolton was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/john-bolton-indicted-after-classified-documents-probe-report">indicted</a> last month. The former national security adviser was charged on 18 counts of retention and transmission of national defense information. According to the indictment, Bolton shared classified information over his personal email, which was later hacked by Iran.
James was also <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/letitia-james-indicted-following-doj-probe-into-2023-sweetheart-home-loan">charged</a> last month over a loan she received in 2023 for a mortgage on a house in Virginia. James allegedly claimed the Virginia home as her primary residence when, as New York’s attorney general, she was required to live in the state of New York. The home instead was occupied by a relative of James.
All three defendants have denied the charges against them.
Trump denied that he instructed Justice Department officials to investigate or charge any of the defendants.
“You don&#8217;t have to instruct them because they were so dirty, they were so crooked, they were so corrupt that the honest people we have … go after them automatically,” said Trump.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
“I think I&#8217;ve been very mild-mannered. You&#8217;re looking at a man who was indicted many times, and I had to beat the rap,” says President Trump after the recent indictments of high-profile figures who have publicly denounced him. <a href="https://t.co/XHoIr77Eh1">https://t.co/XHoIr77Eh1</a> <a href="https://t.co/tLH0fxW2wI">pic.twitter.com/tLH0fxW2wI</a>
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) <a href="https://twitter.com/60Minutes/status/1985146947200569584?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 3, 2025</a></blockquote>

Trump Says Bolton, Comey, James ‘Were So Dirty’ DOJ Had No Choice But To Prosecute

John Bolton

President Donald Trump awards Charlie Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom, New York Attorney General Letitia James&#8217; grandniece may be a fugitive from the law, and the U.K.&#8217;s Labour Party turns to digital ID to curb illegal immigration.
It’s Wednesday, October 15, 2025, and this is the news you need to know to start your day.
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<h2 style="text-align: center;">Trump Awards Charlie Kirk The Highest Civilian Honor</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-986115" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Honoring-A-Patriot-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Honoring-A-Patriot-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Honoring-A-Patriot-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Honoring-A-Patriot-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Honoring-A-Patriot-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Honoring-A-Patriot.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Topline: President Trump posthumously honored Charlie Kirk on Tuesday, on what would have been Kirk’s 32nd birthday, with the country’s highest civilian award: the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
In front of a large audience in the Rose Garden, the president presented the award to Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk. The event was attended by many family members, friends, and acquaintances of Kirk from within the administration, Kirk’s conservative youth organization Turning Point USA, and elsewhere.
“Five weeks ago, our nation was robbed of this extraordinary champion. He was a champion in every way — I got to know him so well,” said Trump. “It was a horrible, heinous, demonic act of murder. He was assassinated in the prime of his life for boldly speaking the truth, for living his faith, and relentlessly fighting for a better and stronger America. He loved this country, and that’s why this afternoon, it’s my privilege to posthumously award Charles James Kirk our nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.”
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Erika Kirk also spoke at the event.
“Today, we’re gathered not only to celebrate Charlie’s birthday, but to honor a truth that he gave his entire life to defend, and that’s freedom. The very existence of the Presidential Medal of Freedom reminds us that the national interest of the United States has always been freedom,” she said.
“Our founders etched it into the preamble of our Constitution, and those words are not relics on parchment; they are a living covenant. The blessings of liberty are not man’s invention, they are God’s endowment. Charlie lived for those blessings, not as abstract words, but as sacred promises,” she added.
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Letitia James’s Fugitive Family Member</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-986113" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Letitia-Shelters-Fugitive-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Letitia-Shelters-Fugitive-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Letitia-Shelters-Fugitive-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Letitia-Shelters-Fugitive-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Letitia-Shelters-Fugitive-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Letitia-Shelters-Fugitive.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Topline: New York Attorney General Letitia James may have sheltered a fugitive in her Virginia home for the past five years. 
James was charged with bank fraud last week for allegedly lying on mortgage papers to get a lower interest rate on a house in Virginia. While James owns the home, the current tenant is her grandniece, Nakia Thompson, and her three children, who have lived in the house since 2020. 
Thompson is officially listed as an “absconder” in the database of North Carolina’s Department of Adult Correction, according to the <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15187603/letitia-james-niece-virginia-home-fugitive.html">Daily Mail</a>. She’s wanted by authorities in Forsyth County for skipping out on her probation.
A spokesman for the North Carolina Department of Corrections said Thompson was “sentenced to probation for misdemeanor convictions for assault and battery and trespassing.” He confirmed that she is considered a fugitive from the state, but he added that because her crimes are considered low-level, she is “non-extraditable.”
Won’t stay silent: In opposition to the standard legal advice to keep quiet after being charged with a crime, James is loudly speaking out against the Department of Justice, claiming to be a victim of a political prosecution.
“We see powerful voices trying to silence truth and punish dissent and, yes, weaponize justice for political gain. We are witnessing the fraying of our democracy, the erosion of our system of government,” said James at a rally for New York City mayoral hopeful Zohran Mamdani on Monday evening.
Limiting her ability to attract supporters to her cause, James is perceived widely on the right to be guilty of pushing the same kind of political prosecutions she is now denouncing. James campaigned for New York attorney general on a platform of investigating President Trump.
After winning her election, James eventually pursued Trump on a civil charge related to defrauding banks, though no banks claimed to have ever been defrauded by Trump. James won the case in a bench trial, and Trump was hit with a civil penalty of nearly half a billion dollars. That penalty was later thrown out by an appeals court in a major victory for the president.
<h2 style="text-align: center;">U.K.’s Labour Turns To Digital ID To Curb Illegal Immigration</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-986111" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Britain-Tries-Digital-ID-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Britain-Tries-Digital-ID-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Britain-Tries-Digital-ID-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Britain-Tries-Digital-ID-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Britain-Tries-Digital-ID-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Britain-Tries-Digital-ID.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Topline: The U.K. recently approved a controversial new law that mandates a digital ID as a way to curb illegal immigration. Morning Wire spoke with Guy Dampier, senior researcher on nationhood at the Prosperity Institute, about the new law. (The following transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.)
Morning Wire: So, Guy, a lot of frustration boiling over in the U.K. right now over immigration, and now we have this heated debate over digital ID. Let’s start with Prime Minister Starmer – he’s defending his party’s immigration policies and accusing the conservative Reform party of pushing supposedly “racist” policies. Catch us up, what’s the story here?
Dampier: The issue is Reform’s policy on residency for immigrants. &#8220;Indefinite Leave to Remain&#8221; means that an immigrant can, after five years, get access to the same welfare benefits as a British citizen. The vast majority of people who get ILR will stay forever. That matters because in the last few years, there was an immigration wave of around 4 million people. Most of those were low-skilled and will be a drain on the taxpayer. One estimate said that it would cost around £80 billion, another said over £200 billion. Whatever the true figure is, it will be a huge cost at a time when the British economy is doing very badly. Reform have announced that they will abolish ILR, forcing those who have come to apply for new visas, which will include new checks on their qualifications and language skills. That also matters because the current rules are incredibly lax. The language test only requires that you have B1 English, which is enough to struggle through a book for small children, but nowhere near enough what you need just to read a newspaper. As most of these 4 million migrants come from Africa and the Indian subcontinent, Labour have branded it “racist.” 
Morning Wire: Now, the Labour Party has actually also admitted that this &#8220;Indefinite Leave to Remain&#8221; law needs to be reformed. What are they suggesting?
Dampier: This is why it is so incoherent. They were calling Nigel Farage racist. On Monday, they announced policies that were not a million miles away. The Home Secretary, Shababa Mahmood, has said that immigrants who want residency will now need better English skills, no criminal record, and evidence that they have volunteered in the community to show that they are integrating. The problem for Labour is that while they want to win over voters who are upset about immigration, they don’t really believe in reducing immigration. So they end up promising things they won’t deliver, and then when they get called out, they lash out. The problem for Britain is very simple: the country has become rapidly more foreign, with over 16% of people born overseas. Most of those came in the last few decades or even the last few years. This is changing the face of the country: around 38% of school children are now from an ethnic minority group. At the same time the economy has ground to a halt. And there is increasing evidence that migrants are overrepresented when it comes to accessing welfare and committing crime. So people are asking a simple question: if we want fewer immigrants, and if immigration isn’t good for the economy, then why are politicians refusing to seriously reduce the numbers?
Morning Wire: As we mentioned at the top, we also have this new digital ID that’s supposed to help crack down on illegal workers. But that has been very controversial. How would that work?
Dampier: This is the so-called Brit card. Labour have long been advocates for digital ID. In fact, the last Labour government, over a decade ago actually introduced ID cards. But they were immediately scrapped by the conservative government which followed them. Labour are now arguing that it would stop illegal immigrants from being able to work and rent. But there is already a digital Visa verification system which is supposed to do this. It just isn’t adhered to. There’s no reason to think that this would be any different. In fact, there are many European countries which already have ID cards and still have a major problem with illegal immigration. In Germany, for example, you are supposed to carry your ID card with you everywhere. But the country has one of the highest numbers of illegal immigrants in all of Europe. This won’t really fix the problem. What it will do is add on another layer of bureaucracy and further reduce the freedom of native British people. There is also another potential danger. Paul Mason, a well-known Labour activist who is close to the senior leadership of the party, suggested that digital ID could be used to help regularise the illegal immigrants who are already here. That is somewhere between 3/4 of 1 million and 2 million people. Instead of discouraging illegal immigration, it could end up being used to reward it.

MRN_251015_V1

Morning Brief: Trump Honors Kirk, Letitia James Accused Of Housing Fugitive, UK Advances Digital ID

Morning Brief: Trump Honors Charlie Kirk, Letitia James’ Crime Family, And UK Digital ID

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