The White House announced Tuesday that it was eliminating the traditional press pool access for wire services after a federal court ordered the administration to end viewpoint discrimination against The Associated Press.

The move will significantly reduce the traditional level of access for journalists from the AP, Reuters and Bloomberg News to the press pool, which cover the president in areas like the Oval Office and aboard Air Force One where space is limited.

The Associated Press sued the Trump administration in February when the White House began restricting reporters and photographers from the outlet after the wire service refused to update its style guide to rename the “Gulf of Mexico” the “Gulf of America” following a Trump executive order.

Last week, District Judge Trevor McFadden, a Trump appointee, ruled that the White House could not bar the newswire from covering the president in restricted areas because of its editorial decision. But McFadden also said he was not explicitly ordering the AP back into the pool, simply saying they needed to be treated similarly to other outlets.

In response, the Trump administration and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt moved to reshape the pool. Under new guidelines she issued Tuesday, wire services — which traditionally attend each presidential event — will simply be “eligible for selection” to cover events.

“Outlets will be eligible for participation in the Pool, irrespective of the substantive viewpoint expressed by an outlet,” Leavitt said in a memo.

The White House said that while it would generally maintain a rotation, Leavitt would “retain day-to-day discretion to determine composition of the pool.”

Judge blocks Trump retribution on law firm

A federal judge on Tuesday placed on hold much of Donald Trump’s order forbidding the federal government from doing business with anyone who hires the law firm Susman Godfrey, making it the fourth time a judge has found the president’s targeting of law firms is likely unconstitutional.

“The framers of our constitution would see this as a shocking abuse of power,” District Court Judge Loren AliKhan said as she entered the temporary restraining order on behalf of Susman, which represented a voting machine firm that won a $787 billion settlement from Fox News over its airing of lies about Trump’s 2020 loss.

Trump’s executive order cited the firm’s election work as a reason it was targeted. Several other firms that have been targeted by Trump entered into settlements, promising to provide hundreds of millions of dollars worth of free legal work for the president’s causes. Susman and at least three other firms have chosen to fight, and all have so far won in court.”

President would fund self-deporters’ travel

President Donald Trump said he wants to give money and an airplane ticket to any immigrant who is in the country illegally who chooses to “self-deport,” and work to get those who are “good” back in the U.S.

Trump, who campaigned on a pledge to carry out mass deportations, said in a taped interview with Fox Noticias that aired Tuesday that his administration is focused right now on getting “murderers” out of the country. But for others in the U.S. illegally, he said, he’s going to implement “a self-deportation program.”

Trump offered few details about the plan, including timing, but said the U.S. would provide immigrants airfare and a stipend.

“We’re going to give them a stipend. We’re going to give them some money and a plane ticket, and then we’re going to work with them — if they’re good — if we want them back in, we’re going to work with

them to get them back in as quickly as we can,” Trump said.

Hunter Biden witness named interim IRS head

President Donald Trump has picked Gary Shapley, an Internal Revenue Service agent who has said the investigation into Hunter Biden’s taxes was not aggressive enough, to temporarily lead the tax collector.

Shapley’s testimony that the Justice Department slow-walked the tax investigation into Hunter Biden were central to House Republicans’ attempted impeachment of his father, President Joe Biden.

As acting commissioner, Shapley will succeed Melanie Krause, who decided to step down after the Trump administration pushed the IRS to help Immigration and Customs Enforcement deport immigrants living in the U.S. illegally.

The possibility of Shapley leading the IRS has in recent days unnerved some IRS employees, who worry about the historically neutral tax collector’s enlistment in political projects such as immigration enforcement.

Judge blocks use of enemies act in Colo.

A federal judge has temporarily blocked deportations of immigrants in Colorado who face possible removal under President Donald Trump’s invocation of an 18th century law known as the Alien Enemies Act.

District Court Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney issued the emergency order Monday night after the American Civil Liberties Union requested it on behalf of two Venezuelan men being held in Denver who feared they would be falsely accused of belonging to the gang Tren de Aragua. Trump has contended the gang is invading the United States, but his critics have said he’s using the gang as the pretext for an overhyped anti-migrant narrative.

Sweeney’s order temporarily bars removal of all noncitizens who are currently in custody in the District of Colorado and who may be subject to removal under the Alien Enemies Act, which Trump invoked last month.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last week that anyone being deported under the declaration deserved a hearing in federal court first.

22,000 IRS workers apply to leave jobs

About 22,000 employees at the IRS have signed up for the Trump administration’s latest resignation offer, according to four people familiar with the matter, an exodus that could weaken the agency’s ability to collect taxes.

The IRS had about 100,000 employees before President Donald Trump took office. Roughly 5,000 employees have resigned since January, and an additional 7,000 probationary employees were laid off, though those firings have been contested in court. If those layoffs take effect, the agency would be on track to lose about a third of its workforce this year.

Under the terms of the Trump administration’s deferred resignation offer, employees who take the deal will be put on paid administrative leave through September and then leave their federal jobs. Some employees who took the offer could still opt out of resigning..

Coal plants exempted from pollution rules

The Trump administration has granted nearly 70 coal-fired power plants a two-year exemption from federal requirements to reduce emissions of toxic chemicals such as mercury, arsenic and benzene.

A list posted as of Tuesday on the Environmental Protection Agency’s website lists 47 power providers — which operate at least 66 coal-fired plants — that are receiving exemptions from the Biden-era rules under the Clean Air Act, including a regulation limiting air pollution from mercury and other toxins. The actions follow an executive order last week by President Donald Trump aimed at boosting the struggling coal industry, a reliable but polluting energy source that’s long been in decline.

Among plants receiving exemptions is the Colstrip Generating Station, a massive power plant in Colstrip, Mont., that emits more toxic air pollutants such as lead and arsenic than any other U.S. facility of its kind, according to the EPA, and Coal Creek Station, a large plant in North Dakota that is among the nation’s top producers of mercury emissions.

— From news services