Trump urges Supreme Court to limit judges’ power that could impede his agenda
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Federal courts are hearing more than 100 lawsuits challenging various initiatives by Mr Trump and his administration.
PHOTO: AFP
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WASHINGTON - Mr Donald Trump urged the Supreme Court on March 20 to curtail the ability of federal judges to issue injunctions blocking his administration’s actions nationwide, marking the latest sign of tension between the Republican President and the US judiciary.
Federal courts are hearing more than 100 lawsuits challenging various initiatives by Mr Trump and his administration since he returned to the presidency in January, with some judges imposing nationwide injunctions to block policies such as his move to curtail automatic birthright citizenship.
“Stop nationwide injunctions now, before it is too late,” Mr Trump wrote in a social media post.
“If Justice Roberts and the United States Supreme Court do not fix this toxic and unprecedented situation immediately, our country is in very serious trouble!”
The Supreme Court’s 6-3 conservative majority includes three justices appointed by Mr Trump during his first term as president.
Lawyers representing the administration asked the justices on March 13 to narrow a judicial block imposed on Mr Trump’s order on birthright citizenship, a key element of his hardline approach towards immigration.
The Justice Department made the request challenging the scope of three nationwide injunctions issued against Mr Trump’s order by federal judges in Washington state, Massachusetts and Maryland.
Mr Trump’s latest comments come after Chief Justice John Roberts rebuked the President on March 18 for urging the impeachment of a federal judge handling a legal challenge to deportation flights carrying Venezuelans accused of being gang members
Tensions have flared between the President and the judiciary as his sweeping assertions of executive power encounter judicial roadblocks.
Justice Roberts wrote: “For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision.”
The correct response was to file an appeal, he said.
Nationwide injunctions have been issued by federal judges against prior presidential administrations as well.
Mr Trump’s predecessor, Democratic former president Joe Biden, had parts of his agenda stymied by such judicial roadblocks, including a nationwide injunction issued against his plan to cancel US$430 billion (S$574 billion) in student loan debt, a policy that was ultimately blocked by the Supreme Court. REUTERS
