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For years, a man’s giant intestine was anonymously on display at a US medical museum in Philadelphia, identified only by his initials JW. Today, the donor display for Joseph Williams depicts not only his anatomical record, but his powerful life story.After two years of controversy over how to ethically exhibit human remains, the Mutter Museum announced last week it has changed its policy to “contextualize” and de-anonymize its collection.”The issue isn’t whether we should or shouldn’t exhibit human remains,” said Sara Ray, the museum’s senior director of interpretation and engagement. “But rather, can we do so in a way that does justice to these individuals and their stories as we trace the history of medicine, bodily diversity, and the tools and therapies developed to treat them?”Founded in 1863 from the personal collection of local surgeon Thomas Mutter, the museum is now home to 35,000 items, including 6,000 biological specimens. Visitors can view a vast medical library with human skulls, wax moldings of skin conditions, medical tools and more. Under its new policy, the museum will only accept donations from living donors or from their descendants, to help identify them.In 2020, a heart transplant recipient donated his old enlarged heart to the collection. The organ, the size of a soccer ball, now floats in a jar next to a collection of 139 human skulls amassed by a 19th century Austrian anatomist.- Postmortem Project -In 2023, after a change of leadership, the Mutter launched the Postmortem Project, a two-year public engagement initiative to re-examine its collection and debate the ethics of displaying human remains.As part of the reevaluation, the museum deleted hundreds of videos from its YouTube channel, which has over 110,000 followers, as well as a digital exhibition from its website.”That’s when the controversy started,” recalls the Mutter’s former director Kate Quinn, who initiated the project.  “They were internal conversations that became very prominent in the public sphere after the videos were removed from YouTube.”She added: “We didn’t want to dramatically change the museum. That was never the intent. The intent was to bring people into the conversation and bring us along this journey as we’re trying to figure it out.”The museum’s annual Halloween party, known as Mischief at the Mutter, was also cancelled.The backlash was swift.A former director of the museum published a scathing op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, condemning “cancel culture” and accusing “a handful of woke elites” of jeopardizing the museum’s future.Soon, an activist group called Protect the Mutter, was formed. Its petition calling for Quinn’s ouster garnered more than 35,000 signatures. “The online content (was) just being decimated, and the staff changes and events,” an organizer at Protect the Mutter told AFP on condition of anonymity.Upset about the controversy, the heart transplant patient had at one point asked for his heart back before the museum made changes.- ‘Did these people choose to be there?’ -Along the corridors of this two-story brick building, visitors can see the cast figures of two adult Siamese twins or study small fragments of Albert Einstein’s brain. They can also learn about the lives of Ashberry, the woman with dwarfism, and Williams, whose “megacolon” was 8 feet (2.4 meters) long. A typical human colon is about 5 feet long.Similar controversies have also rocked several other Western institutions, such as the British Museum, in recent years, which anthropologist Valerie DeLeon says is part of a broader conversation on ethics.Museum goers “are thinking about the people that are represented in those collections. And you know, did these people choose to be there? Are they being exploited by having their skeletal remains on display for ‘entertainment’?” DeLeon told AFP. Quinn left her post this spring and the museum’s new management moved to restore 80 percent of the videos on its YouTube channel, a decision welcomed by members of Protect the Mutter.But more difficult questions remain, like what to do with the skeleton of a 2.29-meter giant who cannot be identified.The anonymous Protect the Mutter activist believes it should be displayed.”Let this example of acromegaly be respectfully displayed and help future generations better understand an ongoing condition that continues to affect people every day,” the activist said. “It becomes that acknowledgment, instead of erasing the past.”

Students at the University of South Carolina were sent into panic when they received an active shooter alert and police rushed to the library.The university had fielded two separate calls on Sunday that included sounds of gunfire.But the reports turned out to be false, part of a wave of so-called “swatting” hoaxes that have targeted American universities as students returned to campuses for fall classes.Similarly baseless reports hit Villanova University and the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga last week, and at least seven more schools on Monday, according to campus alerts and school and police statements.West Virginia University responded to yet another hoax Tuesday morning.Experts warn that swatting — deliberately phoning in a false emergency to trigger a law enforcement response — traumatizes students, depletes security resources and risks desensitizing Americans to alerts in a country where mass shootings are a legitimate threat.”It plays on our fears because bad things really do happen,” said former police chief John DeCarlo, a criminal justice professor at the University of New Haven.”They can trigger, with just one call, lockdowns, mobilizations, closings of buildings and a lot of media coverage.”The FBI told AFP it is aware of the recent incidents targeting colleges and is “seeing an increase in swatting events across the country.”The agency said it has received thousands of swatting reports since creating a database for law enforcement agencies to log incidents in 2023, adding that the practice “drains law enforcement resources, costs thousands of dollars, and, most importantly, puts innocent people at risk.”- Persistent problem -At the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga, first responders from at least 10 agencies were mobilized to the campus and cleared multiple buildings before concluding there was no threat.The University of South Carolina said two students received minor injuries in the rush out of its library.A third was falsely branded as a gunman after social media users and Congresswoman Nancy Mace shared footage of him carrying an umbrella that resembled a firearm.Swatting began in gamer and hacker communities and has been wielded against judges, election officials and lawmakers in recent years.Schools are “especially vulnerable” due to their visibility and student populations, DeCarlo said.Keven Hendricks, a cybercrime expert, told AFP perpetrators are frequently linked to extremist groups and ideologies and are often juveniles who are emboldened when they are not caught.”A lot of swatters do it simply because they can.”Experts called for stronger laws to combat the problem, as well as investments in technologies to identify callers who conceal their voices or IP addresses.”It is, in reality, a form of domestic terrorism that’s very easy to get away with because we don’t have the wherewithal to investigate or prosecute it well,” DeCarlo said.”It seems to be running away unbridled.”

SpaceX’s Starship megarocket roared into the skies Tuesday on its tenth test flight, turning in a strong performance after a series of fiery failures had begun to cast doubt on its future.Towering 403 feet (123 meters), Starship is the most powerful launch vehicle ever built and key to founder Elon Musk’s vision of carrying humanity to Mars, as well as NASA’s plans to return astronauts to the Moon.The stainless steel colossus blasted off from the company’s Starbase in southern Texas at 6:30 pm local time (2330 GMT), greeted by loud cheers from engineering teams, as seen in a live webcast.A few minutes into launch, the first-stage booster known as Super Heavy splashed down into the Gulf of Mexico, triggering a sonic boom on its way. Unlike other recent tests, SpaceX opted not to attempt a catch with the giant “chop stick” arms of the launch tower, instead testing how it would perform if an engine cut out. Attention then shifted to the upper stage — also known individually as Starship and intended to one day carry crew and cargo — to demonstrate its capabilities as it soared into space. For the first time, SpaceX was able to successfully deploy eight dummy Starlink internet satellites, with onboard cameras beaming back live views of a robotic mechanism pushing each out one by one.It was not all smooth sailing. Some heat tiles fell away and a small section of a flap burned off during the vessel’s fiery descent, as it was enveloped in pink and purple plasma.But SpaceX communications manager Dan Huot said much of this was expected as the vehicle was intentionally flown on a punishing trajectory with some tiles removed. “We’re kind of being mean to this starship a little bit,” he said on the webcast. “We’re really trying to put it through the paces and kind of poke on what some of its weak points are.””Great work by the SpaceX team!!” Musk wrote on X. – Critical mission -Much had been riding on the mission, after the last three flights ended with the upper stage exploding: twice over the Caribbean and once after reaching space. In June, an upper stage blew up during a ground test.Despite recent setbacks, Starship was not seen as being at a crisis point. SpaceX’s “fail fast, learn fast” philosophy has already given it a commanding lead in launches with its Falcon rockets, while Dragon capsules ferry astronauts to the ISS and Starlink has become a geopolitical asset.Still, even with a successful tenth flight, major challenges loom. Musk has identified developing a fully reusable orbital heat shield as the toughest task, noting it took nine months to refurnish the Space Shuttle’s heat shield between flights.”What we’re trying to achieve here with Starship is to have a heat shield that can be flown immediately,” he said on a webcast Monday.Another hurdle is proving Starship can be refueled in orbit with super-cooled propellant — an essential but untested step for the vehicle to carry out deep-space missions.Time is running short to ready a modified version as NASA’s lunar lander for 2027, and for Musk to make good on his vow to send an uncrewed Starship to Mars next year.

US President Donald Trump is famed as a political showman — and during a record-breaking three hour and 16 minute cabinet meeting, the show went on, and on, and on.The extraordinary performance on Tuesday was the 79-year-old Republican’s longest ever televised press event, the White House and US media said.The former reality TV star freewheeled through his favorite topics during the marathon session, before his top officials seated around the huge wooden table took turns to praise the “greatest president” in history.”This has never been done before,” a beaming Trump said as the meeting finally wrapped up. “There’s something really nice about the openness of what we’re doing — it’s an open government, that’s what we are.” But while the White House likes to boast about Trump being the “most transparent” president in history, access doesn’t always equate to openness.And as Trump had taken part in three separate Oval Office events on Monday lasting nearly three hours, some wondered what more he could have to say a day later.The frenetic pace of Trump’s first months back in power has partly eased. Peace efforts in Ukraine and Gaza have largely stalled, key trade deals to avoid tariffs have been sealed, and breaking news has been in shorter supply.But Trump is rarely at a loss for words. – ‘Greatest president’ -After the press were admitted to the White House Cabinet Room at 12:11 pm local time (1611 GMT), he gave a 45-minute opening monologue, including a brief interlude when he asked a reporter to give her account of being mugged in Washington, where he has launched a crime crackdown.Many of Trump’s comments appeared designed to push the buttons of opponents who accuse him of authoritarianism and unpresidential behavior.He said he would ask for the death penalty in murder cases within the US capital and talked about Americans possibly wanting a “dictator” who could cut crime — but insisted he wasn’t one. When mentioning Attorney General Pam Bondi, Trump said: “I would never say she’s beautiful because that would be the end of my political career.”Trump in 2023 was ordered by a New York jury to pay $5 million for sexually abusing and defaming writer E. Jean Carroll.Other comments seemed likely to keep foreign diplomats busy figuring out the mercurial leader of the world’s top superpower.Asked about the Russian foreign minister questioning the legitimacy of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in peace talks, Trump declared that “everybody’s posturing. It’s all bullshit.”Yet in the same breath he said that Zelensky, whose country was invaded by Russia in 2022, was “not exactly innocent.” Then it was the turn of the assembled cabinet members to outdo themselves by flattering Trump. Everyone got a turn.”This is the greatest cabinet working for the greatest president,” said Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, seated to Trump’s left. “I’m having the time of my life working for you, Mr President.”Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine and the Middle East, won a round of applause after he said his “only one wish” was for his boss to win the Nobel Peace Prize.- ‘Getting tired?’ -As the test of stamina neared the two-and-a-half-hour mark, Trump finally opened the meeting to questions — after briefly sympathizing with broadcast reporters who had spent the whole time holding long boom microphones over the table. “Are you getting tired?” Trump asked.It was then left to one reporter to break it to the headline-loving president that his mammoth press conference had been trumped by the announcement of Taylor Swift’s engagement to American football star Travis Kelce.”I wish them a lot of luck,” Trump replied, despite his earlier criticism of Swift over her support for his 2024 election rival Kamala Harris.Finally, at 3:27 pm (1927 GMT), Trump ushered out the press.NBC and the RollCall Factbase said it was Trump’s longest on-camera event, with the latter timing it at three hours, 16 minutes and 41 seconds. Factbase added that it was “longer than Titanic: both the movie (3 hrs, 15 min) and the sinking (2 hrs, 40 min).”

A Brazilian judge on Tuesday declared far right ex-president Jair Bolsonaro, who is under house arrest while awaiting the verdict in his coup-plotting trial, a “flight risk” and placed him under round-the-clock watch. Bolsonaro faces 40 years in prison if convicted of plotting to cling onto power after losing 2022 elections to left-winger Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.The verdict in the case is expected early next month.Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who is presiding over the trial, asked the police to carry out “full-time surveillance” of former army captain Bolsonaro, according to a court document seen by AFP.Moraes was acting on a request from the Brazilian prosecutor’s office.The prosecutors pointed to recent revelations that Bolsonaro planned to seek asylum in Argentina last year as proof that the 70-year-old could seek to evade a possible lengthy jail term.In his draft asylum request, the man dubbed the “Trump of the Tropics” during his 2019-2022 presidency claimed he was the victim of political persecution.Bolsonaro is accused of leading a criminal organization that aimed to prevent Lula taking power after he narrowly defeated Bolsonaro in October 2022 elections.The trial has driven a deep wedge between Lula and US President Donald Trump, who has slammed the indictment of his ally Bolsonaro as a “witch hunt” and punished those responsible for putting him in the dock.Lula announced Tuesday that the United States had revoked the US visa of his justice minister, Ricardo Lewandowski, the latest official to be hit with a US visa ban or asset freeze over the case.The US State Department had yet to confirm the move.At a cabinet meeting Lula expressed solidarity with the minister and called the visa withdrawal an “irresponsible gesture.”- ‘Brazil belongs to Brazilians’ -The Trump administration has also imposed crippling 50-percent tariffs on dozens of Brazilian imports and sanctioned Moraes, a hate figure on the Brazilian and US right, among other Supreme Court justices.”These attitudes are unacceptable, not only against the minister but against all Supreme Court justices, against any Brazilian figure,” Lula told the cabinet meeting.In a sign of protest against what he sees as US meddling in Brazil’s affairs, he and several of his ministers wore caps inscribed “Brazil belongs to Brazilians.”The US sanctions followed intense lobbying of the Trump administration by Bolsonaro’s US-based son, Eduardo Bolsonaro.Lula called the younger Bolsonaro’s campaign of retribution “one of the worst betrayals the country has suffered.”Bolsonaro claims his trial is an attempt by the Brazilian judiciary, in league with Lula’s government, to prevent him making a comeback in 2026 elections.Before his trial he held out hopes of running, despite being barred from seeking re-election until 2030 for spreading misinformation about Brazil’s electoral system.

It’s official: America’s most famous couple are tying the knot.Stadium-filling pop megastar Taylor Swift and three-time NFL Super Bowl winner Travis Kelce announced their engagement on Instagram Tuesday.Here are five things to know about their love story:- Taylor’s Version -Swift’s journey to becoming the world’s biggest pop star has contained twists and turns — and not just the romantic missteps that fueled her hit songs until she met Kelce. A teenage country music sensation, she won her first Grammy at just 20 years old, before pivoting to pop.Wild success and scrutiny followed. Swift endured a high-profile feud with Kanye West, and re-recorded her early song catalog to reclaim ownership from a private equity firm.High-profile romances with Hollywood actors and pop stars came and went, with references to Jake Gyllenhaal, Tom Hiddleston, Joe Jonas, Calvin Harris and Harry Styles all rumored to be embedded in her song lyrics.Last year, she won a fourth Grammy for Album of the Year — the most by any artist — and wrapped up the highest-earning concert tour of all time.- NFL great -Kelce’s own road to American football greatness has had a few bumps of its own.While playing college football, he was suspended for marijuana use.His older brother Jason lobbied coaching staff to give Travis another chance, and again vouched for his younger sibling when Travis was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in 2013.As the Chiefs went from broken franchise to NFL dynasty, Travis Kelce has played a vital role, and is now considered one of the greatest tight ends in the sport’s history.He has won three Super Bowls — and lost two, including an agonizing loss to the Philadelphia Eagles this year that ended dreams of a historic Chiefs “three-peat.”- How it began -During Swift’s $2 billion-grossing “Eras” tour, handing out homemade “friendship bracelets” with beaded messages became a treasured ritual among fans.Kelce took it a step further, attempting to meet Swift backstage at a concert in Kansas City in 2023 and pass her a bracelet bearing his phone number.He was thwarted upon learning that Swift doesn’t do meet-and-greets — even for star NFL players — before or after her shows “because she has to save her voice,” he pined on his podcast shortly afterward.But Swift was charmed when she learned about the romantic ploy, and “we started hanging out right after that,” she told TIME magazine.- Controversy -Swift quickly became a fixture at Kelce’s Chiefs games.As television cameras cut to her reactions with increasing regularity, viewership and tickets sales for the already wildly popular sport went through the roof.With that came criticism from football die-hards that their sport was becoming a showbiz circus, and even right-wing conspiracy theories claimed that the entire relationship had been contrived as “Democrat propaganda.”As it turned out, the distractions did not seem to faze Kelce or the Chiefs, who went on to win that season’s Super Bowl.Although Swift did endorse Democratic candidate Kamala Harris in 2024, her Republican opponent Donald Trump won the US election — and even wished the couple “a lot of luck” when asked about their engagement.- Engagement -A joint post on their Instagram pages Tuesday showed pictures of Kelce proposing on one knee in a flower-laden garden, and Swift wearing an enormous diamond ring.No date or details about the wedding have been revealed.It comes at a busy time for both, with Kelce — having shrugged off talk of retirement — gearing up for the start of the NFL season next month, while Swift has a new album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” out in October.

Pop singer Taylor Swift and NFL Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce announced their engagement on social media on Tuesday, prompting congratulations from across the sports world.The celebrity couple, who made their relationship public in 2023, were congratulated by the Chiefs, with whom Kelce has won three Super Bowl crowns, most recently last year.”Today is a fairytale,” the Chiefs posted on social media with emojis of a heart and an engagement ring. “Congrats to Travis and Taylor — we’re excited to have you as a permanent member of the Chiefs Kingdom family!”The NFL got into the act as well, posting on X, “Congratulations to Travis and Taylor,” with the photo of Kelce on his knees in front of Swift in a flower-filled garden.The league also ran a video clip of Swift with Kelce as Super Bowl victory confetti was falling behind them, the singer saying, “This is so crazy. I cannot believe this is really happening. I’m in shock,” with an NFL caption reading, “Same.”Chiefs defensive end Michael Danna, who was having a news conference at the time the engagement news went public, said: “I don’t know nothing.””Man, it’s incredible. I was caught off guard but you know, great for them,” Danna added. “That’s a blessing. Any time you find that type of joy, blessing, love — that’s a beautiful thing.”Brittany Mahomes, the wife of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, posted on Instagram: “Two of the most genuine people meet & fall in love. Just so happy for these two.”The ATP Tour posted a video of Swift and Kelce at the US Open tennis tournament saying congratulations and adding: “This is the moment we knew they were meant to be.”Major League Baseball’s Cleveland Guardians had a joking take on the news, which came just after MLB had announced the 2026 season schedule.”Thanks a lot, Taylor Swift. Now no one cares that next year’s schedule is out,” the Guardians posted on X.The NBA’s Boston Celtics did a countdown of sorts regarding Swift, the debut of her next album and the upcoming season, posting on X: “Days since Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce got engaged: 0. Days until The Life of a Showgirl drops: 37. Days until Celtics basketball: 56.”Jarrett Payton, the son of legendary Chicago running back Walter Payton, posted a 2023 video of Swift walking with Kelce and sought a wedding invitation.”I captured the first vid of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce together back in 2023. This vid literally broke the internet,” Payton posted on X. “Congrats to them on their engagement. I think I deserve an invite to the wedding. Just saying.”The US Ryder Cup golf team, whose six captain’s picks for next month’s showdown against Europe are set to be announced on Wednesday, thanked Swift and Kelce for avoiding an announcement conflict.”Thank you, Taylor Swift & Travis Kelce for getting your little news pushed through today,” the team posted, claiming, “The BIG news is coming tomorrow.”

Donald Trump’s move to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook has marked a dramatic escalation in his effort to control the US central bank — in a step that puts the institution’s independence at risk.For months, the US leader has been calling for the bank to slash interest rates, lashing out repeatedly at Fed Chair Jerome Powell for being “too late” and calling him a “moron.”But policymakers have been holding rates steady as they monitor the effects of Trump’s wide-ranging tariffs on inflation.By ousting Cook, the president could potentially add another voice to the Fed’s board to try and shift interest rates in his favored direction.After calling for her resignation last week, Trump posted a letter on his Truth Social platform Monday evening, saying she was fired “effective immediately.”He cited allegations of false statements on her mortgage agreements, saying: “I have determined that there is sufficient cause to remove you from your position.”Trump told reporters Tuesday that Cook “seems to have had an infraction,” saying “we need people that are 100 percent above board.”But Cook on Tuesday rejected Trump’s unprecedented bid to remove her, saying he had no legal authority to do so.”I will not resign,” said Cook, the first Black woman to serve on the central bank’s board.”President Trump purported to fire me ‘for cause’ when no cause exists under the law, and he has no authority to do so,” she added.Cook’s attorney Abbe Lowell added: “We will be filing a lawsuit challenging this illegal action.”A Fed spokesperson said the central bank “will abide by any court decision.” The official noted that Cook was seeking a judicial decision that would confirm her ability to keep honoring responsibilities as a Fed governor.The spokesperson stressed that long tenures and removal protections for governors are “a vital safeguard,” but did not provide further details on Cook’s status before the court outcome.Among the alleged false statements was that Cook had claimed two primary residences, one in Michigan and another in Georgia.Cook has not been charged with a crime and the alleged incidents occurred before she was in her current position.- Independence eroded? -The potential legal dispute would be the latest test of presidential powers under Trump’s new term, with the 79-year-old Republican — backed by loyalists throughout the government — forcefully moving to exert executive authority.But even as the Supreme Court’s conservative majority recently allowed Trump to fire members of other independent government boards, it created a carveout for the Fed in its ruling.Federal law says that Fed officials can only be removed for “cause,” which could be interpreted to mean malfeasance or dereliction of duty.Fed independence from the White House “is being eroded,” said David Wessel, a senior fellow in economic studies at Brookings.He told AFP that Trump appears to be trying to get a majority on the Fed’s board, in an effort to lower interest rates.But Wessel warned: “History tells us that when politicians control the central bank, the inevitable consequence is higher inflation and financial instability.”The Fed’s credibility as an inflation-fighter will be questioned, he said, cautioning that global investors will demand a premium on US Treasury debt as a result.- Consequences -For now, Oxford Economics senior US economist Matthew Martin expects that even if Cook’s removal could tip the scale in favor of lower interest rates, Fed decisions are still voted upon by 12 officials.But a Fed that “answers to the whims of an administration” draws more investor wariness, he added.”Despite lower short-term interest rates, long-term interest rates would rise for the US government, households, and businesses — increasing their borrowing costs,” Martin said.The Fed has held interest rates at a range between 4.25 percent and 4.50 percent this year.Besides Cook, Trump has recently suggested that what he called an overly costly renovation of the Fed’s headquarters could be reason to oust Powell, before backing off the threat.Meanwhile the president has picked Stephen Miran, the leader of his White House economic panel, to fill a recently vacated seat on the Fed’s board.Cook took office as a Fed governor in 2022 and was reappointed to the board in 2023.

Meta is launching a political action committee in California to support candidates who favor lighter regulation of artificial intelligence in the state that is home to Silicon Valley.The tech world powerhouse on Tuesday confirmed plans for a super-PAC called Mobilizing Economic Transformation Across California dedicated to backing pro-AI candidates regardless of party affiliation.”As home to many of the world’s leading AI companies, California’s innovation economy has an outsized impact on America’s economic growth, job creation, and global competitiveness,” a Meta spokesperson told AFP.”But Sacramento’s regulatory environment could stifle innovation, block AI progress, and put California’s technology leadership at risk.”According to Meta, state-level regulation of AI threatens to hamper development of the technology at a time when US tech firms are in a fierce innovation race with Chinese rivals.The tech industry is lobbying hard to avoid regulation of AI’s development, and in July it narrowly failed to win a federal ban by US Congress that would have prevented states from passing or enforcing AI laws for as long as a decade.Meta pointed to the more than 50 AI-related bills that have been introduced this year in California alone, many of which could hinder advancement of the technology, the company claimed.One such law, which will be effective on January 1, requires developers of generative AI with large user bases to disclose summaries of training data, provide free AI detection tools, and ensure clear labeling of AI-generated content. 

A federal judge on Tuesday tossed out a lawsuit filed by the Trump administration against other judges and rebuked the White House for attacks on the judiciary.District Judge Thomas Cullen, who was appointed by President Donald Trump during his first term, dismissed the unusual suit brought by the Justice Department against all of the 15 federal district judges in Maryland.The Trump Justice Department filed suit after the chief district judge in the eastern state issued a standing order requiring the government to give undocumented migrants facing expulsion 48 hours to contest their removal.Instead of appealing the order to a higher court, the Justice Department took the extraordinary step of suing the 15 district judges in Maryland, accusing them of “judicial overreach.”Cullen, who normally sits in a district in Virginia, was brought in to hear the case since the federal district judges in Maryland were defendants.In a scathing 37-page ruling against the Justice Department, he said suing federal judges was a “novel and potentially calamitous” approach.”If the Executive truly believes that Defendants’ standing orders violate the law, it should avail itself of the tried-and-true recourse available to all federal litigants: It should appeal,” he said.Cullen also had harsh words for White House attacks on the judiciary. For months, administration officials “have described federal district judges across the country as ‘left-wing,’ ‘liberal,’ ‘activists,’ ‘radical’ … ‘rogue,’ ‘unhinged’ … and worse,” the judge said.”Although some tension between the coordinate branches of government is a hallmark of our constitutional system, this concerted effort by the Executive to smear and impugn individual judges who rule against it is both unprecedented and unfortunate,” he added.Trump, the first convicted felon to serve in the White House, has a history of attacking the judges who presided over his civil and criminal cases.Since his return to office in January, Trump has launched fierce attacks on judges who have ruled against his executive orders or blocked his efforts to deport migrants and slash the federal workforce.In March, Supreme Court Justice John Roberts issued a rare public rebuke of the Republican president over his call for the impeachment of a federal judge.”For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision,” Roberts said. “The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose.”