Trump admin live updates: Dems react to Hegseth discussing Yemen strike in 2nd chat

Dan Caldwell, Colin Carroll and Darin Selnick, the three Defense Department officials who were let go this week as part of a leak investigation, spoke out in a joint statement posted on X Saturday.

The officials said they are disappointed by how their service ended and alleged they've been slandered.

"At this time, we still have not been told what exactly we were investigated for, if there is still an active investigation, or if there was even a real investigation of 'leaks' to begin with," they said.

"While this experience has been unconscionable, we remain supportive of the Trump-Vance Administration’s mission to make the Pentagon great again and achieve peace through strength," they added.

-ABC News' Cindy Smith

Solicitor General John Sauer responded Saturday to the Supreme Court's extraordinary overnight order that temporarily blocked the removal of any alleged Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang members to El Salvador calling it "unprecedented" and wrong.

Sauer argued that the detainee plaintiffs have no standing to seek an injunction from the high court since the government has already paused their pending deportations and is allowing the legal process to play out.

He noted no lower court has weighed in on the facts of the government's "notice" and "opportunity to appeal" process implemented in the wake of the SCOTUS order last month.

"This Court should deny the application to allow the lower court to resolve applicants’ claims in the first instance," Sauer wrote. "The lower courts have not found critical facts in this case."

"There has been no fact-finding about the timing, nature, and manner of notice that the government has given [Alien Enemies Act] detainees. Nor has there been fact-finding in the lower courts concerning which detainees in the putative class have actually tried to seek habeas, and whether any detainees were deprived of that opportunity," he added.

Sauer also implored the justices to limit the sweeping overnight order to only a pause on AEA removals — not any removals of Venezuelan alleged gang members.

-ABC News' Devin Dwyer

The United States "made very good progress" in its discussions with Iran on Saturday, according to a Trump administration official.

"Today, in Rome over four hours in our second round of talks, we made very good progress in our direct and indirect discussions. We agreed to meet again next week and are grateful to our Omani partners for facilitating these talks and to our Italian partners for hosting us today," the official told ABC News in a statement.

-ABC News' Hannah Demissie

In a statement to ABC News, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt blasted the order from the Supreme Court and said the White House is confident the deportation actions by the administration are lawful.

"We are confident in the lawfulness of the Administration's actions and in ultimately prevailing against an onslaught of meritless litigation brought by radical activists who care more about the rights of terrorist aliens than those of the American people," she said in her statement.

-ABC News' Hannah Demissie