In a smackdown of an opinion, the judge wrote that a president who fashions himself a king "fundamentally misapprehends" the role under the Constitution.

Two US judges have ordered several federal government agencies to reinstate the jobs of probationary employees fired en masse by the Trump administration last month. In California, District Judge William Alsup called the sacking of these employees part of a "sham" strategy that aimed to circumvent proper procedures for reducing the federal workforce.