Trump admin live updates: Trump says Musk will 'pay the consequences' if he funds Democrats

The Supreme Court's conservative majority on Friday granted DOGE the ability to access sensitive data inside the Social Security Administration, lifting a lower court injunction and affirming the Trump administration's broad assertion of power over the executive branch.

"The factors in this case warrant granting the requested stay," the Court wrote in an unsigned order. "We conclude that, under the present circumstances, SSA may proceed to afford members of the SSA DOGE Team access to the agency records in question in order for those members to do their work."

A federal employee union, which brought the challenge, accused DOGE of moving to expose Americans' highly personal information to unauthorized and untrained staffers in violation of federal law.

Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented.

"Today, the Court grants a stay permitting the Government to give unfettered data access to DOGE regardless—despite its failure to show any need or any interest in complying with existing privacy safeguards, and all before we know for sure whether federal law countenances such access," Jackson wrote.

-ABC News' Devin Dwyer

Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, who flew to El Salvador and met with Kilmar Abrego Garcia shortly after his deportation, is responding to the news that he is on his way back to the United States where he is set to face criminal charges.

Van Hollen is claiming the Trump administration has "relented" to his "demands" of bringing the Maryland resident back-- compliant with court orders.

"As I have repeatedly said, this is not about the man, it's about his constitutional rights - and the rights of all. The Administration will now have to make its case in the court of law, as it should have all along," he said.

-ABC News' Isabella Murray

Attorney General Pam Bondi spoke briefly with the press after it was announced that Kilmar Abrego Garcia had been returned from the U.S. from an El Salvadorian prison.

"Our government presented El Salvador with an arrest warrant and they agreed to return him to our country," she said.

Bondi said if Abrego Garcia is convicted of the charges, upon the completion of his sentence he will be deported back to his home country of El Salvador.

A reporter asked Bondi about what circumstances have changed since Abrego Garcia was pulled over in that 2021 traffic stop in Tennessee where he was not taken into custody.

"What has changed is Donald Trump is now President of the United States, and our borders are again secure, and thanks to the bright light that has been shined on Abrego Garcia," she said

-ABC News' Pierre Thomas and Alexander Mallin

A former inmate who was previously pardoned by President Donald Trump has been tapped to be the No. 2 at the Bureau of Prisons, according to an internal memo sent to BOP staff on Thursday.

Josh Smith, who spent five years in federal prison for drug trafficking and received a pardon during the final days of the Trump's first term, will become the deputy director, a position which does not require Senate confirmation.

Smith, according to the Bureau of Prisons Director William Marshall, turned his life around after leaving jail, founding a multimillion-dollar company that helps people kick drug addiction.

"Josh brings to this role something our agency has never had before at this level: a perspective shaped by lived experience, proven innovation, and national impact," Marshall said in a message to staff. "Josh has spent more than two decades working with corrections leaders across the country and internationally to transform prison culture, support staff development, and reduce recidivism."

-ABC News' Luke Barr