logo
President Trump increasingly asks the Supreme Court to overrule judges blocking key parts of his agenda

President Trump increasingly asks the Supreme Court to overrule judges blocking key parts of his agenda

Chicago Tribune29-03-2025
WASHINGTON — As losses mount in lower federal courts, President Donald Trump has returned to a tactic that he employed at the Supreme Court with remarkable success in his first term.
Three times in the past week, and six since Trump took office a little more than two months ago, the Justice Department has asked the conservative-majority high court to step into cases much earlier than usual.
The administration's use of the emergency appeals, or shadow docket, comes as it faces more than 130 lawsuits over the Republican president's flurry of executive orders. Many of the lawsuits have been filed in liberal-leaning parts of the country as the court system becomes ground zero for pushback to his policies.
Federal judges have ruled against the administration more than 40 times, issuing temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions, the Justice Department said Friday in a Supreme Court filing. The issues include birthright citizenship changes, federal spending, transgender rights and deportations under a rarely used 18th-century law.
The administration is increasingly asking the Supreme Court, which Trump helped shape by nominating three justices, to step in, not only to rule in its favor but also to send a message to federal judges, who Trump and his allies claim are overstepping their authority.
'Only this Court can stop rule-by-TRO from further upending the separation of powers — the sooner, the better,' acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris wrote Friday in the deportations case, referring to the temporary restraining orders.
Stephen Vladeck, the Georgetown University law professor who chronicled the rise of emergency appeals in his book, 'The Shadow Docket,' wrote on the Substack platform that 'these cases, especially together, reflect the inevitable reckoning — just how much is the Supreme Court going to stand up to Trump?'
In the first Trump administration, the Justice Department made emergency appeals to the Supreme Court 41 times and won all or part of what it wanted in 28 cases, Vladeck found.
Before that, the Obama and George W. Bush administrations asked the court for emergency relief in just eight cases over 16 years.
Supreme Court cases generally unfold over many months. Emergency action more often occurs over weeks, or even a few days, with truncated briefing and decisions that are usually issued without the elaborate legal reasoning that typically accompanies high court rulings.
So far this year, the justices have effectively sidestepped the administration's requests. But that could get harder as the number of appeals increase, including in high-profile deportation cases where an extraordinary call from the president to impeach a judge prompted a rare rebuke from Chief Justice John Roberts.
Here's a look at the appeals on the court's emergency docket:
Trump's deportation order will be a critical test
Immigration and the promise of mass deportations were at the center of Trump's winning presidential campaign, and earlier this month, he took the rare step of invoking an 18th-century wartime law to speed deportations of Venezuelan migrants accused of belonging to the Tren de Aragua gang.
Lawyers for the migrants, several of whom say they are not gang members, sued to block the deportations without due process.
U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg, the chief judge at the federal courthouse in Washington, agreed. He ordered deportation flights to be temporarily halted and planes already making their way to a prison in El Salvador be turned around.
Two planes still landed, and a court fight over whether the administration defied his order continued to play out even as the administration unsuccessfully asked the appeals court in the nation's capital to lift his order.
In an appeal to the Supreme Court filed Friday, the Justice Department argued that the deportations should be allowed to resume and that the migrants should make their case in a federal court in Texas, where they are being detained.
Mass firings of federal workers have generated lawsuits
Thousands of federal workers have been let go as the Trump administration seeks to dramatically downsize the federal government.
The firings of probationary workers, who usually have less time on the job and fewer protections, have drawn multiple lawsuits.
Two judges have found the administration broke federal laws in its handling of the layoffs and ordered workers reinstated. The government went to the Supreme Court after a California-based judge said some 16,000 workers must be restored to their positions.
The judge said it appeared the administration had lied in its reasons for firing the workers. The administration said he overstepped his authority by trying to force hiring and firing decisions on the executive branch.
Anti-DEI teacher training cuts have been blocked, at least temporarily
Trump has moved quickly to try and root out diversity, equity and inclusion programs across the government and in education.
Eight Democratic-led states argued in a lawsuit that the push was at the root of a decision to cut hundreds of millions of dollars for teacher training.
A federal judge in Boston has temporarily blocked the cuts, finding they were already affecting training programs aimed at addressing a nationwide teacher shortage. After an appeals court kept that order in place, the Justice Department went to the Supreme Court.
The administration argues that judges can't force it to keep paying out money that it has decided to cancel.
Trump wanted to end birthright citizenship. So far, courts have disagreed
On Inauguration Day, Trump signed an executive order that, going forward, would deny citizenship to babies born to parents in the country illegally.
The order restricting the right enshrined in the Constitution was quickly blocked nationwide. Three appeals court also rejected pleas to let it go into effect while lawsuits play out.
The Justice Department didn't appeal to the Supreme Court to overturn those rulings right away, but instead asked the justices to narrow the court orders to only the people who filed the lawsuits.
The government argued that individual judges lack the power to give nationwide effect to their rulings, touching on a legal issue that's concerned some justices before.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

New FEMA grant program gives states $600M to build migrant detention centers
New FEMA grant program gives states $600M to build migrant detention centers

The Hill

time13 minutes ago

  • The Hill

New FEMA grant program gives states $600M to build migrant detention centers

A new $608 million grant program from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will give states money to build detention centers for people suspected of being in the United States unlawfully. FEMA was already slated to cover some of the costs for Florida's 'Alligator Alcatraz' using a Biden-era program meant for helping asylum seekers. The new facility, quickly constructed in a remote part of the Florida Everglades, is expected to run a tab of about $450 million a year. The new FEMA grant program comes as the Trump administration has increasingly slashed FEMA's ability to assist disaster response, and as the president has mulled closing the agency altogether. CNN reported Friday that FEMA has proposed cutting nearly $1 billion in grant funding to help local first responders better prepare for disasters and to help bolster cybersecurity. A webpage for the program also said it would help reduce 'overcrowding' in facilities maintained by Customs and Border Patrol. A Human Rights Watch report released this week charged that three facilities run by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Florida faced 'extreme overcrowding,' and that many detainees were denied access to medical care. FEMA has come under scrutiny in the wake of deadly flash floods in Texas, including reports that the federal response was hamstrung by budget cuts or controls designed to limit large expenditures. Applications for the program are open through August 8. It's not clear if states beyond Florida are yet planning make pushes to build their own detention centers.

The Trump administration is telling immigrants 'Carry your papers.' Here's what to know.
The Trump administration is telling immigrants 'Carry your papers.' Here's what to know.

USA Today

time13 minutes ago

  • USA Today

The Trump administration is telling immigrants 'Carry your papers.' Here's what to know.

Immigrants have long been required to carry ID proving they're in the US legally, but the rule was not enforced. Until now. Amid the Trump administration's ongoing crackdown on illegal immigration, the nation's immigration service is warning immigrants to carry their green card or visa at all times. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services posted the reminder July 23 on social media: "Always carry your alien registration documentation. Not having these when stopped by federal law enforcement can lead to a misdemeanor and fines." Here's what immigrants – and American citizens – need to know. 'Carry your papers' law isn't new The law requiring lawful immigrants and foreign visitors to carry their immigration documents has been on the books for decades, dating to the 1950s. The Immigration and Nationality Act states: "Every alien, eighteen years of age and over, shall at all times carry with him and have in his personal possession any certificate of alien registration or alien registration receipt card issued to him." But the law had rarely been imposed before the Trump administration announced earlier this year that it would strictly enforce it. The "carry your papers" portion fell out of use for cultural and historical reasons, said Michelle Lapointe, legal director of the nonprofit American Immigration Council. In contrast to the Soviet bloc at the time the requirement was written, "We have never been a country where you have to produce evidence of citizenship on demand from law enforcement." In a "Know Your Rights" presentation, the ACLU cautions immigrants over age 18 to follow the law and "carry your papers with you at all times." "If you don't have them," the ACLU says, "tell the officer that you want to remain silent, or that you want to consult a lawyer before answering any questions." A 'precious' document at risk Many immigrants preferred to hold their green card or visa in safe-keeping, because, like a passport, they are expensive and difficult to obtain. Historically, it was "a little risky for people to carry these precious documents such as green card, because there is a hefty fee to replace it and they are at risk of not having proof of status – a precarious position to be in," Lapointe said. But as immigration enforcement has ramped up, the risks of not carrying legal documents have grown. Failure to comply with the law can result in a $100 fine, or imprisonment of up to 30 days. Immigration enforcement and 'racial profiling' U.S. citizens aren't required to carry documents that prove their citizenship. But in an environment of increasing immigration enforcement, Fernando Garcia, executive director of the nonprofit Border Network for Human Rights in El Paso, Texas, said he worries about U.S. citizens being targeted. "With massive raids and mass deportation, this takes a new dimension," he said. "How rapidly are we transitioning into a 'show me your papers' state?" "The problem is there are a lot of people – Mexicans, or Central Americans – who are U.S. citizens who don't have to carry anything, but they have the burden of proof based on racial profiling," he said. "There are examples of U.S. citizens being arrested already, based on their appearance and their race." Not just immigrants: Why some Native American citizens worry about getting caught in ICE's net American citizens targeted by ICE The Trump administration's widening immigration crackdown has already netted American citizens. In July, 18-year-old Kenny Laynez, an American citizen, was detained for six hours by Florida Highway Patrol and Border Patrol agents. He was later released. Federal agents also detained a California man, Angel Pina, despite his U.S. citizenship in July. He was later released. Elzon Limus, a 23-year-old U.S. citizen from Long Island, New York, decried his arrest by ICE agents in June, after he was released. In a video of the arrest, immigration agents demand Limus show ID, with one explaining he "looks like somebody we are looking for." In updated guidance, attorneys at the firm of Masuda, Funai, Eifert & Mitchell, which has offices in Chicago, Detroit and Los Angeles, advise U.S. who are concerned about being stopped and questioned "to carry a U.S. passport card or a copy of their U.S. passport as evidence of U.S. citizenship." Lauren Villagran can be reached at lvillagran@

Academic with history of incendiary remarks to lead US Institute of Peace
Academic with history of incendiary remarks to lead US Institute of Peace

Politico

time14 minutes ago

  • Politico

Academic with history of incendiary remarks to lead US Institute of Peace

'We look forward to seeing him advance President Trump's America First agenda in this new role,' the statement said. USIP has been in turmoil in recent months as the administration and its Department of Government Efficiency sought to close the organization and withhold funding. The State Department said the institute has in recent decades 'slipped in its mission' to provide research, analysis and training in diplomacy. In February, several dozen Democratic House members signed a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio opposing Beattie's appointment to his current role. They cited his 'white nationalist loyalties and public glorification of our adversaries' authoritarian systems,' which included praise of the Chinese Communist Party and dismissal of its campaign against the largely Muslim Uyghurs. Beattie also drew widespread condemnation for a 2024 social media post on X in which he wrote 'competent white men must be in charge if you want things to work.' Beattie, who previously served as a visiting instructor at Duke University, has since been at the forefront of the Trump administration's efforts to overhaul the State Department's Fulbright Program and shutter its Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference Hub. Trump signed an executive order firing USIP President George Moose and most of USIP's board in February. The remaining board members, including Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, subsequently installed Department of Government Efficiency staffer Kenneth Jackson, as acting president. DOGE staffer Nate Cavanaugh later took over as acting president. The Trump administration laid off most of the embattled institute's staff in March following a tense standoff between USIP staffers and DOGE employees at the institute's headquarters. A federal judge subsequently blocked the Trump administration's efforts to dismantle the organization, which was founded in 1984.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store