WASHINGTON (OSV News) — A federal appeals court found President Donald Trump unlawfully invoked a wartime law to carry out deportations.
The same week in Washington, a group of those who said they were victims of sex trafficking by Jeffrey Epstein joined lawmakers on Capitol Hill to call for the release of more documents in the investigation, and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testified before a Senate committee amid controversy at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention over vaccine policy.
Alien Enemies Act use declared unlawful
A federal appeals court panel ruled Sept. 3 that Trump’s use of an 18th-century wartime law to deport people his administration said are members of a Venezuelan gang was unlawful, setting up a likely review by the Supreme Court.
Two judges on a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld lower court rulings finding Trump could not invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport people allegedly associated with the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, sparking a legal battle and prompting concern from Catholic immigration advocates.
Trump invoked the law in March for the first time since World War II, granting himself broad authority under the wartime law to carry out such deportations.
The legislation was first enacted in 1798 amid fears immigrants — particularly Irish Catholics — would side with France in a potential conflict with the U.S., which was a majority Protestant nation at the time. It gave the president authority to imprison and deport noncitizens during conflict bypassing typical hearings.
The legislation has been invoked just three times since: during the War of 1812, World War I, and most recently World War II, when it was used in the infamous mass internment of people of German, Italian and especially Japanese heritage.
Trump rebrands Defense Department as ‘Department of War’
Trump signed an executive order on Sept. 5 adding the “Department of War” as a secondary, ceremonial title for Department of Defense officials.
To change the name outright would require an act of Congress, but the secondary title permits staff there to use titles such as “secretary of war.”
The department, which oversees U.S. armed forces, was originally established by President George Washington in 1789 as the Department of War, but has been reshaped and renamed over the course of U.S. history, and was named the Department of Defense soon after World War II.
The executive order marked the 200th executive order Trump has signed since taking office, the White House said.
RFK Jr. questioned on vaccine policy
Kennedy was questioned Sept. 4 by both Republican and Democratic senators on the Senate Finance Committee amid turmoil at the CDC and his controversial vaccine policies.
The hearing came shortly after the White House fired the now-former CDC director Susan Monarez — who was sworn in less than one month prior — after she clashed with Kennedy, a longtime critic of vaccines, over policy governing them. Several other officials there resigned in similar protest.
In a piece for The Wall Street Journal the same day, Monarez wrote that “one of the troubling directives” from Kennedy was that she “was told to preapprove the recommendations of a vaccine advisory panel newly filled with people who have publicly expressed antivaccine rhetoric.”
“That panel’s next meeting is scheduled for Sept. 18-19. It is imperative that the panel’s recommendations aren’t rubber-stamped but instead are rigorously and scientifically reviewed before being accepted or rejected,” she wrote.
Kennedy disputed Monarez’s account in a combative hearing, suggesting she was lying, a claim her lawyers disputed.
The Food and Drug Administration approved an updated version of COVID-19 vaccines Aug. 27, but imposed new restrictions on who is eligible to receive them.
The FDA moved to limit the updated shots to people it says are most at risk for serious complications, such as those 65 or older or other health conditions such as lung conditions or diabetes. Previously, COVID vaccines were available to anyone 6 months and older, regardless of their overall health status.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., a medical doctor who previously balked at supporting Kennedy’s nomination before ultimately voting to confirm him, asked him about that policy, arguing, “I would say, effectively, we’re denying people vaccines.”
Sens. John Barrasso of Wyoming and Thom Tillis of North Carolina were other Republicans who had tense exchanges with Kennedy over vaccine policy.
The Catholic Church has been clear that Catholics may receive COVID-19 vaccines, but such decisions should be voluntary, while taking into account the common good.
Also during the hearing, Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., asked Kennedy about potential changes to policy surrounding mifepristone, a drug commonly used for first trimester abortion, but which also has morally legitimate uses for early miscarriage care.
Kennedy, who is Catholic, did not offer specifically what, if any, changes he may consider. He said a review was “ongoing.”
“I can’t give you the exact timing,” Kennedy said in response to a similar question from Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla.
Victims, House members call for full release of Epstein files
A group of women who said they were victims of Epstein’s sex trafficking joined lawmakers Sept. 3 on Capitol Hill to call for the release of more documents in the case.
The women, some of whom spoke publicly for the first time, said Epstein and his currently imprisoned associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, said they were lured into and used in a sex trafficking ring.
Controversy surrounding Epstein, a well-connected, high profile multimillionaire who was found dead in prison of an apparent hanging in 2019, has emerged after Trump sought to distance himself from Epstein, with whom he reportedly had a falling out in 2004.
The group urged Congress to pass the Epstein Files Transparency Act, bipartisan legislation from Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Ro Khanna, D-Calif.
The pair said they would collect signatures from their colleagues on a discharge petition, a House procedure that would force a floor vote on the measure if they get 218 signatures.
House rules shield members from some legal liability for things they say on the House floor during debate, and Massie said he would be willing to share publicly the names of people his victims said aided Epstein, using this immunity.
Amid the Epstein controversy, Catholic advocates have called on Congress to strengthen efforts to prevent sex trafficking.
Key congressional retirements will likely spark competitive races
Several key congressional retirements announced this week illustrate some of the competitive races next year’s midterm elections may bring.
Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., 78, said he would not seek reelection after more than three decades in the House.
His retirement will likely prompt a crowded primary for a rarely-open Manhattan seat.
Nadler noted his age as part of his rationale, telling The New York Times it is time for a “generational change” in the Democratic Party. His comments come as many younger Democratic candidates launch races or primary challenges against the party’s longtime officeholders.
The same week, Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, also said she would not seek reelection. Ernst, 55, became the first woman elected to represent Iowa in the Senate in 2014, and was the first female combat veteran in the upper chamber.
Her retirement comes after a controversial remark about Medicaid cuts at a town hall, where she suggested “we all are going to die” in response to criticism about that policy. Those cuts were strongly criticized by Catholic groups, including pro-life advocates who saw them as harmful to their efforts to help vulnerable women choose life for their unborn children.
Iowa generally has long-serving incumbents in the U.S. Senate — the state’s other senator, Chuck Grassley, also a Republican, was first elected to the upper chamber in 1980 — and Ernst’s retirement will spark a competitive primary, but may also draw attention from Democrats seeking to flip the seat. Grassley turns 92 on Sept. 17.
Kate Scanlon is a national reporter for OSV News covering Washington. Follow her on X @kgscanlon.
Updated Sept. 5 at 7:30 p.m. ET
