Whistleblowers and National Security

U.S. District Judge Amir Ali in Washington, D.C., granted Mark Zaid a preliminary injunction blocking the administration from using a March presidential memorandum — which named him among 15 people deemed "no longer in the national interest" — to summarily strip his security clearance, with the order taking effect Jan. 13. The injunction is limited to Zaid and allows the government to pursue revocation or suspension through normal agency processes for independent reasons; the ruling comes amid a broader Trump campaign targeting officials (including prior revocation of 37 clearances) and was one of two major legal setbacks for the administration that day.