An American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit contends Trump’s order attempts to upend a fundamental American constitutional value.

Joseph N. Laplante, chief judge for the federal district court in New Hampshire, said he was not persuaded by arguments an attorney for the US Department of Justice presented in defense of Trump’s order.

President Trump has removed a Democratic member of the quasi-judicial federal agency that hears appeals to firings and other disciplinary actions the government takes against its employees, clearing the way for the White House to install a Republican majority to the board as it seeks to push through efforts to upend the civil service.

A federal judge said the Trump administration failed to comply with his order to resume federal payments to foreign assistance programs administered by the US Agency for International Development, but he declined to hold the government in contempt as requested by groups that sued.

A federal judge has temporarily blocked parts of President Trump’s executive orders that sought to end the federal government’s backing of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts.