WASHINGTON (OSV News) — President Donald Trump said April 2 he removed Attorney General Pam Bondi from her role, the second Cabinet member he has fired within a month.
The same week, Congressional Republican leadership said they reached a tentative funding deal for the Department of Homeland Security after a weeks-long funding lapse, but the U.S. House recessed April 2 without voting on such a measure, extending the lapse until after Easter.
A federal judge ruled that the Trump administration unlawfully ended the immigration status of nearly 900,000 migrants who came to the U.S. using the CBP One app, and another federal judge dismissed a lawsuit seeking to allow churches to endorse political candidates without losing their tax-exempt status.
Bondi fired
In a post on his social media website Truth Social, Trump called Bondi “a Great American Patriot and a loyal friend.”
“We love Pam, and she will be transitioning to a much needed and important new job in the private sector, to be announced at a date in the near future,” Trump said.
Bondi accompanied Trump as he attended oral arguments at the Supreme Court April 1 on his executive order limiting birthright citizenship, a case of great interest to Catholic immigration advocates.
Trump said Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche will step in to serve as Acting Attorney General. A permanent replacement for the position requires Senate confirmation.
During Bondi’s tenure, the Department of Justice faced scrutiny about its level of compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which required the release of documents surrounding the Jeffrey Epstein sex-trafficking case, a multimillionaire who was found dead in prison of an apparent hanging in 2019.
The Justice Department under Bondi was criticized for the late publication of those files, missing the deadline required by the law, as well as erroneously releasing survivors’ names and contact information that were left unredacted, among other issues.
During a House Judiciary Committee oversight hearing on Feb. 11, Bondi sought to deflect questions on the case by arguing, “The Dow is over 50,000 right now,” referring to the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which prompted significant criticism even among allies and supporters of Trump.
Amid the Epstein investigation, Catholic groups are among those that have called on Congress to strengthen efforts to prevent sex trafficking.
Tentative DHS deal reached, Johnson and Thune say
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said April 1 they will advance a plan to fund DHS, except for except for Immigration and Customs Enforcement or Border Patrol as negotiations over new constraints on those entities continue, and deferring those agencies to a separate reconciliation bill.
Their statement was something of an about-face for Johnson, as it came just days after House Republicans rejected Senate-passed legislation that took that approach, with some saying they would never support a DHS funding package that did not fund ICE and CBP.
“In following this two-track approach, the Republican Congress will fully reopen the Department, make sure all federal workers are paid, and specifically fund immigration enforcement and border security for the next three years so that those law-enforcement activities can continue uninhibited. In return, Democrats will once again demonstrate to the American people their support for open borders and keeping criminal illegal immigrants in America,” a joint statement from Johnson and Thune said.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., argued in an April 1 statement that Republican “dysfunction” was behind the reversal.
“Throughout this fight, Senate Democrats never wavered. We were clear from the start: fund critical security, protect Americans, and no blank check for reckless ICE and Border Patrol enforcement,” he said. “We were united, held the line, and refused to let Republican chaos win.”
The Senate advanced its measure to the House on April 2, but it was not clear when the House would take it up, as they are on a scheduled recess until April 13, with a pro forma session scheduled April 6.
In January, lawmakers ended a brief, partial government shutdown, agreeing to pass most outstanding appropriations bills but only a two-week extension for DHS to allow negotiations for reforms regarding federal immigration officers after the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, two American citizens in Minnesota killed by federal agents in separate incidents. However, they have yet to come to an accord on what those constraints would entail.
Catholic immigration advocates are among those who have called for change at the department after former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s controversial tenure.
Judge rules Trump administration unlawfully revoked status of migrants who used CBP One App
A federal judge in Boston on March 31 ruled that the Trump administration unlawfully ended the immigration status of about 900,000 migrants who came to the U.S. using a Biden-era parole program, the CBP One app.
About 900,000 migrants legally entered the U.S. using CBP One, which scheduled appointments for migrants at ports of entry beginning in January 2023. The app did not guarantee such status would be granted, and was just a means to schedule the appointments necessary to apply for it. Many migrants were granted legal parole to remain in the U.S. for two years and receive work authorization during that time.
However, in April 2025, parole recipients who used that app were sent an email saying their status had been terminated and they were required to leave the U.S. “immediately.”
U.S. District Court Judge Allison D. Burroughs in Boston wrote in her opinion that the government “terminated the impacted noncitizens’ parole without observing the process mandated by statute and by their own regulations, they took action that was ‘not in accordance with law.’”
“Accordingly,” the opinion said, the court must “hold (the terminations) unlawful and set (them) aside.”
Judge dismisses lawsuit challenging the Johnson Amendment
A federal judge in Texas on March 31 dismissed a lawsuit seeking to allow churches to endorse political candidates without losing their tax-exempt status, finding he lacked the jurisdiction to hear the case.
U.S. District Judge J. Campbell Barker in Tyler, Texas, ruled that he also lacked jurisdiction to approve a consent judgment that the U.S. Internal Revenue Service had made with those challenging the amendment, which included two Texas churches and the group National Religious Broadcasters.
The policy prohibits 501(c)(3) organizations — a type of tax-exempt nonprofit under U.S. tax code, and the typical corporate structure for houses of worship and charities in the U.S. — from engaging in political campaign activity.
When the group first filed its suit against the IRS, claiming the Johnson Amendment violated their First and Fifth Amendment rights, as well as the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, during the Biden administration, the Department of Justice sought to dismiss the case. But the Trump administration reversed course to side with the plaintiffs, and sought to settle the case.
But Barker said his court was not the appropriate venue to do so, pointing to the Tax Anti-Injunction Act, which generally limits lawsuits over the collection of taxes.
Previously, in 2025, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops indicated it would maintain its stance of not endorsing or opposing political candidates regardless of potential changes to the Johnson Amendment.
Kate Scanlon is a national reporter for OSV News covering Washington. Follow her on X @kgscanlon.
The post Washington Roundup: Bondi fired, tentative DHS funding deal struck, Johnson Amendment case dismissed first appeared on OSV News.
