Henry Gass

Austin

Texas Writer at The Christian Science Monitor

Texas reporter/#SCOTUS @csmonitor. England born, D.C. bred, Canadian buttered. gassh(at)csps(dot)com. DM for Signal #YNWA

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Articles

Birthright citizenship reaches the Supreme Court. What’s at stake?

2 days ago | csmonitor.com | Henry Gass |Sarah Matusek

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments this week in a case that is both unusual and potentially seismic in its consequences. The 14th Amendment says that anyone born in the United States is automatically a citizen of this country – and has been settled law since the 19th century. President Donald Trump is seeking to put an asterisk on that amendment as part of his crackdown on immigration.
With their staffs cut to as low as 1 person, agencies push back on DOGE

3 days ago | csmonitor.com | Henry Gass

The Inter-American Foundation has rarely found itself in the headlines, so maybe it was no surprise when Trump administration efforts to effectively close the agency didn’t get much attention either. The administration, after all, was taking similar actions throughout much of the federal government. President Donald Trump reentered the White House promising to make government smaller and more efficient.
What happens if a judge charges the Trump administration with ‘contempt’?

2 weeks ago | csmonitor.com | Henry Gass

Described by Alexander Hamilton as the “weakest” and “least dangerous” branch of government, the federal judiciary has few ways it can enforce its authority. One is the contempt power, which allows a federal judge to compel a party to follow a court order or punish them retrospectively for not following that order.
Supreme Court case would allow religious charter schools. Why charters object.

2 weeks ago | csmonitor.com | Jackie Valley |Henry Gass |Sophie Hills

The U.S. Supreme Court has taken several swings at the invisible wall separating church and state in public education. Two education cases being heard this month have the potential to either remove a few more bricks, or perhaps pull it down. The legal maneuvers underpinning the lawsuits give the courts an opportunity to profoundly change America’s public schooling system. And, in a twist, opponents of one case include people who favor both religious schooling and public charter schools.
Amid deportation dispute, Trump and courts square off on who has last word

3 weeks ago | csmonitor.com | Henry Gass

The Trump administration’s running battle with the federal courts reached a critical juncture this week, heightening a constitutional dispute that has defined its first three months in power. President Donald Trump and his deputies have raised the question of whether they need to comply with court orders they disagree with. But developments in a pair of immigration-related cases are raising key questions: Can the executive branch ignore court rulings?
In mass deportation push, Trump revives rarely used laws

1 month ago | csmonitor.com | Sarah Matusek |Henry Gass

In its hard-driving push to toughen immigration policy, the Trump administration has found an unusual ally: old and at times rarely enforced laws that can be used to further its goals. From an 18th century wartime authority to a World War II-era registration law, President Donald Trump is relying on a wide range of legal powers already on the books. The laws have become prominent tools in his effort to rapidly achieve major changes, including a pledged mass deportation of unauthorized immigrants.
Trump targets Big Law. Why that matters to the rest of us.

1 month ago | csmonitor.com | Henry Gass

As it began fighting for its life in federal court last week, the law firm WilmerHale turned to the story that most budding lawyers hear before anything else. It’s 1770, and a group of British soldiers is on trial after killing five colonists in the Boston Massacre. John Adams, a prominent voice for independence, has chosen to defend them.
As Trump pushes bounds of power, judges push back. Is it a constitutional crisis?

1 month ago | csmonitor.com | Henry Gass

It’s been the buzzword – or words – of the past two months. Is the United States in a constitutional crisis? It’s a loaded question to ask, and a difficult one to answer. A constitutional crisis is a fuzzy, intangible, and inherently subjective proclamation. When do you ask that question? How do you answer it? The question is being raised now because President Donald Trump has been pushing the boundaries of executive power in new and profound ways.
‘Move fast and break things?’ Judges are telling Trump to put them back together.

1 month ago | csmonitor.com | Henry Gass |Nate Iglehart |Troy Sambajon

As President Donald Trump moves at a furious pace to implement his agenda, federal courts are struggling to pause actions that may be unlawful. That dynamic reached another chaotic height this past weekend as the Trump administration seeks to further its policy of mass deportations.
Columbia protester arrest ignites free speech tug-of-war

2 months ago | csmonitor.com | Sarah Matusek |Henry Gass |Nate Iglehart

The college campus tumult over Israel’s war in Gaza has collided with the nation’s immigration debate. The Trump administration’s framing of its detention of a Palestinian student activist as a defense against rising antisemitism is a move that launches, in effect, a new round of free speech tug-of-war. Nearly a week after immigration officials arrested Mahmoud Khalil, a green card holder living in New York, there are still no formal charges against him outside of immigration court.