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Over a year after President Donald Trump returned to office, the Justice Department hasn't just been twisted to serve his own political goals, but hollowed out to the point it can barely function, The Atlantic staff writer Sarah Fitzpatrick told MS NOW's Nicolle Wallace on Thursday's edition of "Deadline: White House."

This comes amid reporting that the Trump administration was still considering under-the-table ways to enact their "Anti-Weaponization Fund" to pay out money to the president's allies who were charged with crimes, even after the DOJ said they were tabling it.

A federal judge in Florida appointed by President Donald Trump just nine months ago seethed at the administration in a new ruling, accusing them of cooking up a flimsy excuse to bypass his own judgment in favor of a career official within the administration itself.

Judge Kyle Dudek's ruling concerned the immigration detention case of Dmitrii Iastrebov, a noncitizen who has been sitting in lockup without a proper hearing — only for the Trump administration to argue that the administration's own appointed immigration judge, rather than the U.S. district judge, should be the final word on the matter.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) got a tongue-lashing from The Bulwark's Joe Perticone on Thursday for going after one of the most beloved and fiercely-guarded programs in America: Social Security.

“The reason we’re in trouble is because over seventy-four percent of federal spending is on autopilot — mandatory spending, that is your entitlement programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and things like Social Security — they have to be adjusted and fixed,” Johnson said on the Moon Griffon Show. “We have a plan to do that next year, and it’s critical, because we’re at $40 trillion-plus in debt. At some point, you get into a hole so deep you can’t climb out of it, so desperate times call for desperate measures.”

New Mexico’s top environmental official warned lawmakers Tuesday the Trump administration could curtail the state’s ability to oversee federal facilities around the state — especially at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

At a Santa Fe presentation before the Radioactive and Hazardous Waste Materials interim committee, state Environment Secretary James Kenney outlined the state’s recent actions to require the U.S. Department of Energy, which oversees the nation’s nuclear mission, to address legacy waste cleanup and pollution in New Mexico.

Political observers never believed President Donald Trump's cancellation of his "Anti-Weaponization Fund" was sincere, especially after new reporting revealed the administration plotted to continue it secretly, correspondent Scott MacFarlane told Nicolle Wallace on Thursday.

A big reason why, he said, is that DOJ attorneys are being asked in court why they refuse to put the cancelation of the fund in writing — and they aren't giving convincing answers.

President Donald Trump's team has reportedly planned under-the-table tactics to effectively still go through with the "Anti-Weaponization Fund" to pay off his allies who have been charged with crimes. But this is taking a huge risk, Punchbowl News' Jake Sherman told MS NOW's Erielle Reshef on Thursday.

The scheme, considered a slush fund by critics, drew bipartisan backlash, but ultimately Senate Republicans decided not to take legislative action against it after the Justice Department said it wouldn't go through with the plan. The new reporting could change the calculus, Sherman argued.