Judge blocks $100,000 fee for H-1B visas imposed by Trump
H-1B visas allow employers to hire international talent for specialty jobs, particularly in the tech industry.

Much of the criticism of President Donald Trump on the right is coming from Never Trump conservatives and libertarians, many of whom were scathing opponents of the MAGA movement from the get-go. Attorney George Conway, The Washington Post's George Will, MS NOW's Joe Scarbrough and The Lincoln Project's Rick Wilson were so anti-Trump that they left the Republican Party altogether. But Rich Logis' opposition to Trump is coming from a much different place. In Salon, the founder of Leaving MAGA details his journey from hardcore Trump supporter to Trump opponent — and his ongoing efforts to help others who have become disillusioned with the president and the MAGA movement."From 2015 until 2022," Logis explains in Salon, "I was a hardcore MAGA activist and pundit. I spoke at pro-Trump events. I wrote numerous op-eds, and even hosted a podcast dedicated to promoting all things Trump. I loved that he wanted to burn down the established political order. I felt that neither major political party cared for the working person. When Trump ran the first time and was elected against what seemed like impossible odds, it was exhilarating and new. It was also a communal experience. MAGA became my second family."The Leaving MAGA founder argues that Trump opponents shouldn't dismiss his supporters as a lost cause, but he emphasizes that quitting MAGA is a real struggle for those who have been true believers and are now questioning the movement."When I tell people I founded an organization that helps people leave Donald Trump‘s MAGA movement," Logis notes, "the response is often a derisive snort. 'Why waste your time on them?' people sometimes say. 'They're a lost cause. It's a cult.' I firmly believe that kind of dismissive contempt is misguided. In fact, I know it, on a profound personal level…. Recognizing that MAGA provides a strong sense of community is key to understanding its appeal."Logis continues, "Another integral element of MAGA's power is the pro-Trump media echo chamber. For several years, I got my information almost exclusively from Fox News, Rush Limbaugh and Breitbart. Everything outside the echo chamber, to my community, was Democratic Party propaganda…. It's hard to overstate the formidable power of believing the MAGA media's daily lies and distortions. I was addicted to rage and fear. Even though Trump had been elected president, I lived in a perpetual state of despair, desperation and paranoia."Logis cites anti-vaxxer propaganda during the COVID-19 pandemic and the Robb Elementary School massacre in Uvalde, Texas as two of the things that led to the creation of Leaving MAGA in 2022. And he is seeing others going through the same struggles he went through. "On the eve of America's 250th birthday, our democracy is in crisis," Logis warns. "I firmly believe the key to resolving it lies partly in forming unlikely but necessary alliances. Those who leave MAGA are worthy of our grace, and can become stewards of our democracy. We cannot afford to shun them."
H-1B visas allow employers to hire international talent for specialty jobs, particularly in the tech industry.
A federal judge on Monday threatened to sanction President Donald Trump's personal attorneys after they missed a court deadline in his sprawling $10 billion libel lawsuit against the BBC — and tried to cover their tracks with a pair of last-minute procedural filings.U.S. District Judge Roy Altman, a Trump appointee, ordered the president's legal team to explain by June 10 why he shouldn't penalize them for what he called their "apparent disregard of court deadlines." Trump's lawyers had been due to respond to the BBC's motion to dismiss the case by June 5. Instead of filing that response, they submitted two eleventh-hour motions — one seeking leave to file excess pages, another seeking to file under seal — neither of which asked the court to extend the deadline. Altman also asked whether the BBC's motion to dismiss should be considered unopposed.The lawsuit, filed in December in the Southern District of Florida, accuses the BBC of defaming Trump by splicing together two portions of his Jan. 6, 2021, speech — made nearly 55 minutes apart — to make it appear he had urged supporters to march on the Capitol and "fight like hell." The BBC has apologized for the edit but is fighting the suit, arguing the Florida court lacks jurisdiction over a documentary that never aired in the United States.Legal experts have been skeptical of the case from the start. Bob Corn-Revere, chief counsel at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, told CNN the suit "does not have any legal basis, either on defamation or jurisdictional grounds," calling it "the president's latest effort to intimidate media companies." University of Utah law professor RonNell Andersen Jones told CNN the $10 billion demand is "a ridiculously hard number to sustain without a strong showing that there was an actual viewing audience."The BBC's motion to dismiss has been pending since March.
The New York Knicks are a lovable and amazing basketball team. They won Game 1 of the NBA Finals by coming back a 14-point deficit, and scoring the last 11 points of the game. They won Game 2 by a single point. It’s great viewing. It’s too bad the games go so late. The Knicks’ […]
Trump is sometimes confronted with a word that practically causes a presidential allergic reaction: evidence. Trouble soon follows.
Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL) openly defied President Donald Trump Sunday night in calling for Israel to launch strikes toward Iran, a remark that flew in the face of the president’s foreign policy agenda — and, according to a GOP congressional candidate, may have violated federal law.Iran launched strikes against Israel Sunday in response to that nation's bombing of Lebanon’s largest city, strikes that Trump urged Israeli leadership not to respond to. Despite Trump’s plea, Israel's missiles flew later that night, the news of which excited Fine, who proceeded to encourage Israel to continue.“Israel has every right to respond to rockets being fired at its civilians exactly as we would,” Fine wrote Sunday night in a social media post on X. “Bombs away.”Fine’s comments, however, at least according to Aaron Baker, who’s running to represent Florida’s 6th Congressional District as a Republican, may have violated the Logan Act, which prohibits Americans from holding unauthorized communications with foreign governments in some instances, particularly with intent to “influence measures or conduct of any foreign government.”“Now you are telling [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu ‘bombs away?’ President Trump told Bibi NO,” Baker wrote in a social media post on X. “Now you have violated The Logan Act, Rep. Fine, and shall be fined or imprisoned under 18 USC 953. So much for trying to pretend you’re loyal to the United States.”Fine has long been a fierce defender and supporter of Israel, though he has frequently drawn scrutiny for his controversial remarks, which critics, even some prominent conservatives, have described as “unspeakably racist” or “genocidal."Examples include Fine telling Gazans to ‘starve away’ last year. In 2021 when, in response to a social media user who shared a photo of what appears to be a Gazan infant buried in rubble with the question “how do you sleep at night,” Fine responded “quite well, actually,” and “thanks for the pic!”Now you are telling @netanyahu “bombs away?”President Trump told Bibi NO. Now you have violated The Logan Act @RepFine and shall be fined or imprisoned under 18 USC 953.So much for trying to pretend you’re loyal to the United States. https://t.co/JhIBak5Qsq— Aaron Baker for Congress (FL-6) (@Aaron4fl6) June 8, 2026
Recent exchange of missiles between Iran and Israel highlights diverging views between US president and Israeli PM The latest eruption of hostilities between Iran and Israel appears to have been contained for now after Donald Trump insisted he called “all the shots” in the Middle East, but in a dangerously fragile region Benjamin Netanyahu has again shown he is ready to take shots of his own.The exchange of missiles on Sunday and Monday was ample demonstration of the inherent instability of the current limbo between war and peace, but it also shone a bright light on the complex and conflicted relationship between the US president and the Israeli prime minister, frenemies who could determine the fate of the current ceasefire. Continue reading...
A federal judge struck down a $100,000 fee President Donald Trump ordered for H-1B visa applications, providing a reprieve for US technology companies that rely on hiring skilled foreign workers.
A federal judge on Monday blocked a $100,000 fee for H-1B visa applications imposed by the Trump administration. U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin agreed with a group of Democratic-led states that the administration exceeded its authority, and the fee usurped Congress’s power to set immigration policy and taxes. “Here, the substance and application of the $100,000 payment reveal that it is a tax, regardless of…