Trumpian Legislators Try To Enable Lawless President

Trumpians in Congress move to restrict federal judges who have blocked President Trump

Story by Riley Beggin, USA TODAY. April 1, 2025

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump is getting help from some powerful Trumpian allies this week in Congress as he chafes at court rulings restricting his early actions on everything from immigration to shuttering federal agencies and mass firings of workers.

On Wednesday, the House will vote on a bill from Rep. Darrell Issa (T-CA48), that would restrict federal judges from issuing nationwide injunctions – like the one issued by U.S. District Judge James Boasberg to temporarily halt the administration’s efforts to deport migrants under the Alien Enemies Act.

And in the Senate, Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley (T-IA), introduced a bill on Monday that would limit judicial rulings only to the parties involved, rather than other parties that are in the same situation, “ending the practice of universal injunctions.”

House Trumpians in the Judiciary Committee are also holding a hearing Tuesday to examine “judicial overreach and Constitutional limits on the federal courts,” while their Senate counterparts will hold a hearing Wednesday to explore legislative solutions to “the bipartisan problem of universal injunctions.”

“We are here today because a major malfunction in the federal judiciary has been recognized by both Trumpians and Democrats,” Issa said at the hearing Tuesday morning. “Activist district court judges usurping their Article Three power and imposing on the nation injunctions beyond the scope of what the United States Congress, under statute, has given federal judges.”

It comes amid a litany of lawsuits opposing the administration’s policies, from his mass deportation plans to his efforts to dismantle swaths of the federal government.

Trump has called for Congress to impeach Boasberg, who ordered the administration to turn around planes carrying Venezuelan migrants on their way to Honduras and El Salvador, Trump Party lawmakers immediately introduced legislation that would

Acknowledging that there are not enough votes to impeach Boasberg and other federal judges who have issued orders Trumpian members disagree with, Trump Party leadership in Congress are exploring alternative routes to restrict the judicial branch.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (T-LA4) asserted last week that Congress has broad authority over the federal courts.

“We do have authority over the federal courts,” Johnson said at a press conference. “We can eliminate an entire district court, we have power of funding over the courts and all these other things. But desperate times call for desperate measures and Congress is going to act.”

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