Federal judges in New York and Texas on Wednesday issued orders to temporarily halt the deportation of Venezuelan plaintiffs in a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act – a wartime authority the administration has invoked to deport alleged gang members without due process.

Judges in Texas and New York on Wednesday temporarily barred the U.S. government from deporting Venezuelans jailed in parts of those two states while their lawyers challenge the Trump administration’s use of a rarely invoked law letting presidents imprison noncitizens or expel them from the country in times of war.

Advocates for men targeted for deportation under President Donald Trump’s invocation of wartime powers against a Venezuelan gang are trying to move their legal fight to Manhattan, even though the Supreme Court expected it would play out in Texas.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed the Trump administration to keep several thousand probationary federal employees it is attempting to fire off the payroll while lower courts weigh whether the downsizing efforts are legal,

Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives voted on Wednesday to curtail the ability of judges to issue nationwide injunctions blocking government policies after key parts of President Donald Trump's agenda have been stymied by such court rulings.

The legislation is part of an escalating Republican campaign to take aim at judges who have moved to halt some of President Trump’s executive orders.

President Donald Trump’s administration filed an emergency appeal at the Supreme Court on Wednesday seeking to dismiss board members at two independent federal labor agencies whom he had tried to fire.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed directives targeting two former government officials who criticized him during his first term, calling one of them a traitor and saying they should be investigated.

A federal judge in California had ordered the Trump administration to rehire government employees fired as part of its efforts to slash the federal work force.

Trump has sought to impose his will on the city as his administration has revoked FEMA funds and moved to end congestion pricing, among other acts.

New York's $9 congestion toll on drivers entering the most traffic-snarled parts of Manhattan appears likely to remain through the summer and possibly into the fall as a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's authority to end the program moves forward.