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... A judge posed what he thought was a straightforward question: As the government laid off federal employees en masse, was it required to give advance notice to newly hired workers who were still in their probationary periods?

"Your honor, I don't have the answer to that precise question off the top of my head," said Justice Department lawyer Abhishek Kambli, representing the Trump administration in a hearing last week.

"OK, but that strikes me as a pretty important question," said U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama, in Washington, D.C.

It was the kind of uncomfortable exchange that has been increasingly familiar over the past month as government lawyers have scrambled to defend against scores of lawsuits spurred by President Trump's blitz of executive actions. During fast-moving proceedings, DOJ lawyers at times have struggled on questions of law and fact about what Trump and his lieutenants are actually doing, drawing frustration and rebukes from judges across the country. In some cases, lawyers later submitted corrections to what they have told the courts.

In one February hearing, Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee in Washington, appeared displeased with the difficulty of getting straight answers in a case about the administration's plans to all but dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development. ...