The Supreme Court has struck down orders issued by Democrat-appointed district court judges five times in the past week.
Without addressing the merits of the issues — which include consequential questions about immigration, funding and the president’s authority to remove agency officials — the high court has for procedural reasons issued back-to-back rulings undoing restrictions district judges imposed on the Trump administration.
“I think that the recent spate of Supreme Court decisions blocking lower court rulings against the Trump administration indicates that a majority of the justices are growing tired of district court judges issuing broad rulings, often in the form of nationwide injunctions, when they lack jurisdiction and are equally concerned about these judges ordering agencies to disburse millions, if not billions, of taxpayer dollars that will be impossible to recoup if the government ultimately prevails,” John Malcolm, director of the Meese Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at the Heritage Foundation, told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Chief Justice John Roberts put a temporary hold Wednesday on orders forcing the reinstatement of two fired agency leaders, clearing the way for Trump to remove Cathy Harris from the Merit Systems Protection Board and Gwynne Wilcox from the National Labor Relations Board.
While asking the Supreme Court to quickly block the lower court orders, the administration also asked the Supreme Court to grant certiorari to consider the matter on its merits. Roberts ordered fired officials to offer a response to the administration by April 15.
Another Supreme Court ruling from Tuesday reversed a lower court decision requiring the administration to reinstate over 16,000 fired federal employees, finding some of the organizations that sued did not have standing.
The Supreme Court blocked two lower court orders dealing with immigration issues on Monday. Roberts temporarily halted an order that would have required the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an alleged MS-13 member living in Maryland with his American wife, to the United States after he was deported in error.
In a 5-4 decision, the majority also permitted the administration to enforce the Alien Enemies Act of 1789, a wartime authority that allows the president to remove citizens of a hostile nation, to deport alleged members of the Tren de Aragua gang to El Salvador. The majority blocked the order issued by D.C. District Court Chief Judge James Boasberg because the case was brought in the wrong venue, but stressed that detainees are still entitled to judicial review.
The three liberal justices, along with Justice Amy Coney Barrett, dissented from the ruling, with Justice Sonia Sotomayor calling the majority’s decision an “extraordinary threat to the rule of law” and Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson saying it should raise concern for “lovers of liberty.”
Following the ruling, a Trump-appointed federal judge in Texas temporarily blocked the administration on Wednesday from removing individuals held in the El Valle Detention Center under the Alien Enemies Act. A Clinton-appointed judge in the Southern District of New York likewise halted deportations in his district under the act.
The Supreme Court blocked an order in another 5-4 decision Friday that directed the Trump administration to pay out millions of dollars in teacher training grants, which it halted as part of its effort to cut programs related to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).
“The Supreme Court has indicated in very strong terms that, rather than seeking out liberal district court judges in the bluest of blue states, people who think they are being unlawfully detained should file habeas petitions where they are being held, former government officials who believe they were wrongfully terminated should go to the Merit Systems Protection Board, and government contractors who believe they are owed money should go the Federal Court of Claims,” Malcolm told the DCNF. “As to the ultimate merits of these claims, I believe the administration will prevail in most of these cases, but, of course, that remains to be seen.”
White House assistant press secretary Taylor Rogers said in a statement to the DCNF that seeking relief on the emergency docket “was necessary for the President to quickly deliver his agenda for the American people without unlawful interruption.”
“President Trump secured five wins in six days in the Supreme Court, because it is finally taking steps to reign in rogue judges who seek to undermine President Trump’s authority,” Rogers said.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect comment from the White House.
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