Posted on 02/11/2025 6:37:41 AM PST by Starman417
The Washington Post ran a troubling story yesterday under the headline, “Trump allies suggest defying court orders after stinging legal rebukes.” It is true there is a lot of that kind of talk surging around on our side, but defying court orders would be a terrible idea. We are nowhere close to a “defy the courts” moment. Don’t panic until I give the signal.
It is true that a pleonastic series of left-wing judges have been tossing out wokabulary-packed TRO’s like obscenely shaped candy tossed in hairy handfuls from a Pride Parade float. “The president,” WaPo crowed, “has lost nearly every battle in court in the opening weeks of his administration, with some judges using biting and incredulous language to push back on administration plans they have deemed unconstitutional, ill-planned or cruel.”
Indeed, yesterday a Massachusetts federal judge blocked the prefectly sensible 15% overhead cap on NIH grants. Also yesterday, Rhode Island Judge John J. McConnell Jr. scolded the administration for failing to comply with the “plain language” of his earlier TRO requiring the OMB to unfreeze trillions in wasteful and abusive federal grants and loans.
It is starting to seem like the courts would rather run the Executive Branch for themselves.
It is worth noting that amnesiac corporate media completely forgot all the glowing words of praise it heaped on Joe Biden’s “creative” circumvention of a series of Supreme Court decisions stopping his student loan forgiveness schemes. The media’s hypocrisy is frustrating, but it is bait we should not eat.
Let them step on the legal rakes.
Three weeks ago, when Trump first issued his blanket pause on federal spending and his new, Schedule-F “at will” category for federal workers, I suggested that he was laying a trap. You’ll recall we discussed the Reagan-era “unitary executive” theory of Executive Branch powers. I told you then that Trump’s blanket orders were inviting lawsuits right out of the gate to tee up a final showdown at a Supreme Court poised to cement Trump’s budgetary and employment powers into law.
Well, the judges couldn’t resist and have taken the Trump bait. The dizzying slew of TRO’s contains some of the worst and weakest judicial reasoning ever excreted from the federal bench. Patience, young Jedi. We should celebrate these particular TRO’s instead of freaking out over them. Weak, injudicious, poorly reasoned orders are much easier to beat than judicious, well-reasoned orders.
My appellate mentor once told me that an overlong long, apparently devastating order packed with pages of ridiculous factual findings is the best kind of order— even though at first it looks like a death sentence. “The more the robes talk,” my mentor said, “the more we have to work with on appeal.” That advice is truer now than it ever has been.
There is no need for panic. The worst thing Trump’s team could do is overreact and start openly defying court orders—that’s a losing strategy with long-term constitutional consequences. Trump has the Supreme Court. It’s much smarter to let these weak orders pile up and then race them up the appellate ladder, which is exactly what is happening now.
It would be different if the Supreme Court were adversarial. That is what happened to President Lincoln, forcing him toignore the order and arrest Justice Taney’s messenger rather than comply with the ruling in Ex parte Merryman. Lincoln faced an existential crisis where compliance with the court’s order would have crippled the Union’s ability to suppress the rebellion— or to facilitate the Northern Aggression, depending on your point of view.
But either way, in 2025 the Supreme Court is not adversarial to President Trump—it is more inclined to define and reinforce his executive authority rather than dismantle it.
That’s why we must show restraint and hew to the rule of law. Let these leftist lower courts exhaust themselves with legally dubious rulings, and then let the Supreme Court do what it was built to do: settle the matter decisively.
I don’t believe it was accidental that Trump practically invited these challenges from Day One. The President knows all about this kind of lawfare—it was background music throughout Trump 1.0. We have enjoyed a brief, encouraging sprint of cheap success while the Swamp was caught off guard, but we always knew this day of lawfare would come. We are now entering the second phase. Trump is playing a longer game. Everything he is doing now is intended to expand his legal authority—constitutionally—using the very same court system that is currently chucking sand into the machine of reform.
(Excerpt) Read more at floppingaces.net ...
I’m ok with ignoring the judges :) Really, I am.
Like I said in another post, the gentleman loser days of George Will should be gone.
But if going the long route makes some happy and as this article says, Trump always KNEW these issues would end up in front of the SCOTUS, then fine, I guess.
Not really. I don’t care if he and DOGE ignore the judges :)
We have a SHORT TIME to change the country for good.
MAYBE an even shorter time that the congress is on his side...mostly. I’m hoping we win agian in 2026.
And people making the SCOTUS sound like a slam dunk...well maybe...but nothing is guaranteed.
I am expecting the Supreme Court to slap down these cases and make it clear to the MA judge and the RI judge and these few other judges that the Executive is in charge of the Executive Branch.
But I also other judges to file other stop orders. New cases. Time after time. How does the Supreme Court per-emptively block some judge in HI from making us jump through these same hoops in March or April or June. When does this end?
Everything he is doing now is intended to expand his legal authority—constitutionally—using the very same court system that is currently chucking sand into the machine of reform.
“Stir the pot” is a phrase with its roots in the literal act of stirring a cooking pot. When cooking something in a giant pot, you have to stir it to keep the ingredients from sinking to the bottom and sticking. Stirring causes everything to rise to the surface and bump together; it also helps release flavors.
Instead of this. Have congress do their job with our majority and write a bill putting in everything DOGE wants to do including allowing access to all requested materials. Running the government by EO is not the best way and people screamed loudly when Biden did it. Run the congress as it’s intended. Heck we have perfect timing of March 14th to do this.
I love to watch Trump work. Along with the successes, it’s also fun to watch the talking head dullards on both sides yapping about Trump moves three turns ago while Trump is starting an additional new game of chess every day. It’s glorious to behold.
I actually disagree. I don’t think Congress needs to pass a law saying that the Chief Executive is in control of the Executive Branch. The Constitution already says that. Trump doesn’t need a law to give him this authority. What he appears to need is a Supreme Court decision telling everybody to back off because he cannot be curtailed in his actions as Chief Executive. These cases will make him explicitly and incontrovertibly in charge.
I disagree in one respect. Appeal the rulings on an expedited basis, yes. They’ve done that. SCOTUS will have to take this up and very soon given all the rulings from the lower courts and how broad and sweeping those rulings are. (With any luck they will make clear that district court judges do not get to issue nationwide injunctions which is a power they just started claiming for themselves in the 1960s).
In the meantime, ignore those rulings. Complying with them would effectively neuter the presidency and would negate the President’s powers as laid out expressly in the Constitution. They simply cannot be complied with.
I hope so. But I do not trust Roberts, Kavanaugh or Coney-Barrett.
A solution to Democrats forum shopping single politicized district court judges for injunctions against their political opposition is to require an app for TRO against the government or fed legislation be heard by 5 district judges nationally chosen by blind pool. Such legal arguments can be made in one zoom presentation to the 5 judges. That would stymie forum shopping and we would see less apps for TROs if the Dem legal, operatives could not stack the deck with one of their judges
Trump’s strategy seems to be to crank out EOs faster than they can issue those stop orders. When they realize that their lawfare is no longer effective, maybe then they’ll give up, and try something else.
The Supreme Court will squash these WOKE/Commie judges like the filthy "buggie" they are...
Have any of these judges been educated about Marbury v. Madison (1812)? It is likely the most important judicial decision in US history. Among many other things, it established that the courts may not use (writs of) Mandamus against the POTUS. That is, that the POTUS can ignore them.
Just this morning I saw that a judge had issued what he called a “judicial mandate”. It’s a legal face slapping moment, for being so dim witted.
Marbury v. Madison. Isn’t that the one where the COURTS decided that the COURTS are the only one who can interpret The Constitution?
If I recall correctly ALL Federal Judges fall under the authority of Chief Justice Roberts.
SO, if that is the case then Roberts needs to grow a set of BIG BALLS and reign in his underlings.
Speaking of Big Balls, DOGE has someone that fits that moniker and maybe he can be an example for Roberts.
Come on Roberts, Do your damned job and Don’t be a Cuck!!!!!
My understanding as a layman is that the inferior courts were created by Congress. So Congress could pass a law stating that any district court ruling only applies to the specific jurisdiction of that district?
The article makes sense.
I trust the Trump team to make the correct moves in the chess game.
So completely unconstitutional separation of powers defying orders are stinging rebukes? Sure.
“The worst thing Trump’s team could do is overreact and start openly defying court orders—“
Yeah, look how it hit Biden with. The ass…oh wait…
Executive power is well established. When any of the separate powers comes up hard against it the EXECUTIVE must defend. We’re not talking shades of grey here. These judges are going wildly beyond anything ever done before. Acting like it’s just another day at the office and waiting thru foot dragging for it to arrive at SCOTUS then losing there or having that coward court split the baby in some absurd way that dilutes executive power isn’t going to be helpful.
“These cases will make him explicitly and incontrovertibly in charge.“
Or not. Remember what Trump has started here. He is in the process of destroying a massive amount of DeepState funding. The pressure on the SCOTUS to stop it will be invisible and immense. I don’t believe the court will do the right thing here. Not at all. Trump himself must defend executive power now.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.