BALTIMORE — A federal judge said Wednesday he’s skeptical the Justice Department’s unprecedented lawsuit against Maryland’s entire federal bench over an automatic 48-hour stay on deportations can survive a motion to dismiss.

U.S. District Judge Thomas Cullen said it’s unclear whether the dispute between the Trump administration and Maryland’s federal courts is a matter for the court to settle. The Fourth Circuit assigned Cullen, a 2020 Trump appointee who normally sits in the Western District of Virginia, to hear the case after the DOJ sued the state's entire district court bench in June.

“One of the things about me is I don’t have a very good poker face,” Cullen told DOJ attorney Elizabeth Hedges during arguments in Baltimore. “I think you probably picked up that I have some skepticis

See Full Page