Congress

As Trump steamrolls Washington, courts flex their power to slow him down

Published

1 year ago

February 9, 2025

President Donald Trump’s “shock and awe” assertion of executive power has hit a wall in the courtroom — at least for now.

At least nine federal judges — from Washington, D.C., to Washington state — have halted aspects of Trump’s early-term blitz, from his effort to rewrite the Constitution’s birthright citizenship guarantee to his sweeping effort to freeze federal spending to his plans to break and remake the federal workforce.

That trend reached a crescendo Friday when U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols — a Trump appointee — blocked a plan by Trump and Elon Musk to put 2,200 USAID employees on leave, part of a rapid-fire effort to dismantle the foreign aid agency. Hours later, a federal judge in New York blocked Musk and his alliesfrom accessing sensitive Treasury records, citing a risk of improper disclosure or hacking. The ruling by U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer, an Obama appointee, was the most sweeping of its kind so far.

All the rulings so far are temporary: They prevent the policies from taking effect while the courts consider the legal challenges more fully. And looming over them all is the Supreme Court, which is almost certain to have the final say on Trump’s extraordinary assertions of executive power. Trump’s legal strategy revolves around finding a sympathetic audience there: The high court has a six-justice conservative supermajority, including three of Trump’s own appointees.

But even if the wins for Trump’s adversaries are short-lived, they’re accomplishing one thing: slowing down Trump’s effort to project his administration as an unstoppable, invincible force able to steamroll any impediments to his assertion of power.

As dozens of lawsuits challenging Trump’s early policies are rushing through several strategically chosen federal district courts around the country — and as a Republican-controlled Congress has shown little interest in clashing with the leader of their party — these courts have emerged as the only institutions with the power and the will to check Trump’s onslaught.

In some cases, judges are voicing distress and even visceral fury as they stand in Trump’s way.

Trump points at Chief Justice John Roberts at his inauguration ceremony. Trump is hopeful that the Supreme Court will side with him on matters of executive power.

“It has become ever more apparent that to our president, the rule of law is but an impediment to his policy goals,” said U.S. District Judge John Coughenour, a Seattle-based appointee of Ronald Reagan, as he blocked Trump’s birthright citizenship policy. “The rule of law is, according to him, something to navigate around or simply ignore.”

Though Coughenour spoke most forcefully, he hasn’t been alone. He, Nichols, Engelmayer and at least six other federal judges appointed by presidents of both parties have disrupted major portions of Trump’s first-month agenda.

U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan, a Joe Biden appointee in Washington, D.C., and U.S. District Judge John McConnell, a Barack Obama appointee in Rhode Island, blocked Trump’s effort to implement a blanket freeze on billions of dollars in federal spending.
U.S. District Judge George O’ Toole, a Bill Clinton appointee in Massachusetts, halted a government-wide program encouraging thousands of federal workers to resign.
U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, a Clinton appointee in Washington, D.C., coaxed an agreement to block Treasury officials from sharing details of the government’s massive payment system — accessed by allies of Musk — with anyone outside the department.
U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth, a Reagan appointee in Washington, D.C., blocked the implementation of Trump’s order to transfer transgender women inmates to men’s prisons.
U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman, a Maryland-based Biden appointee, joined Coughenour in blocking Trump’s birthright citizenship order.
U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb, a Biden appointee in Washington, D.C., barred the Trump administration from disclosing the names of FBI agents who worked on Jan. 6 cases — without at least a two-day warning for the agents to come back to court.

Coughenour’s stunning assessment of a sitting president was also a stark contrast to the GOP-led Congress’ gentle compliance with Trump’s efforts to dramatically expand the powers of his office. Moves that have rattled the federal workforce and raised fears of a sweeping retribution campaign against officials deemed disloyal to Trump — particularly in the FBI and Justice Department — have been largely met with shrugs from Republicans on Capitol Hill.
Those congressional Republicans appear content to let Trump — backed by Musk, his roving “wood chipper” — steamroll the federal bureaucracy, purge independent watchdogs and dismantle federal agencies without much pushback. Democrats, mired in the minority for the first time since 2018, have proven largely toothless in response, leaving their base frustrated.

That has left the courts, which have been flooded by lawsuits from unions, nonprofits, state governments and other organizations affected by the White House’s torrent of policy moves, as the lone check on Trump.

It’s possible that all of these early decisions will be short-lived. Trump is hopeful that the Supreme Court he helped tip sharply to the right will side with him on matters of executive power. In one landmark case, the court has already done just that: Last year, the court announced a sweeping doctrine of presidential immunity that helped Trump stave off federal criminal charges for subverting the 2020 election.

None of the cases his orders have triggered has yet reached the appellate courts, let alone the Supreme Court. But as Trump’s Justice Department begins to file appeals challenging the growing list of injunctions, the cases could begin reaching the justices in the coming weeks.

For now, the initial decisions to slow down the onslaught are having widespread effects, forcing federal agencies to disclose more details about their opaque plans for the workforce, establishing guidelines for the handling of sensitive government data that Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” has been gobbling up and raising sharp questions about Trump’s effort to impound swaths of government spending authorized by Congress.

The legal counterattack doesn’t appear likely to end anytime soon. New lawsuits were filed Thursday and Friday, some taking on DOGE and others taking on Trump’s orders restricting medical care for transgender people and immigration tactics.

Congress

Cornyn, Tillis confirm they will vote for Blanche

Published

4 hours ago

August 3, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has a clear path to the Senate Judiciary Committee advancing his nomination to the permanent job after two GOP holdouts confirmed Monday they would vote for him.

The statement from Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) comes after the late-night announcement Sunday of a Justice Department agreement to clarify a controversial May settlement agreement between President Donald Trump and the IRS.

A successful Judiciary vote Tuesday would set Blanche up for confirmation on the Senate floor later this week, before the chamber breaks for August recess.

“We want to express our gratitude to Mr. Blanche and his staff for working with us on this, and we look forward to voting to advance his nomination out of the Senate Judiciary Committee soon,” Cornyn and Tillis said in a joint statement.

The senators suggested their agreement with Blanche also satisfies the concerns of several other Republican senators off the Judiciary Committee who have raised concerns about the “Anti-Weaponization Fund” created in the original settlement, as well as provisions immunizing Trump and his family from some tax audits.

“We are pleased that the Department of Justice has issued a formal order terminating the anti-weaponization fund. Additionally, the Department has acknowledged in a binding written order that the audit settlement is limited to the plaintiffs and the scope does not extend beyond the defendants in the lawsuit, the IRS and the Treasury, addressing concerns that multiple of our Republican colleagues share,” Cornyn and Tillis said.

Sens. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Susan Collins of Maine, John Curtis of Utah and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska are among the other Republicans who have expressed concerns about the payout fund. Blanche recently visited Alaska and announced a flurry of settlements benefiting Alaska as he courts Murkowski’s vote.

Congress

Maryland Dems kick off latest redistricting effort after a year of infighting

Published

4 hours ago

August 3, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Maryland Democrats kicked off a special session on redistricting Monday, with the battle to redraw House districts around the country showing no signs of stopping at the November midterm elections.

Democrats are gearing up for a process to ultimately draw out the state’s only Republican member of Congress, Rep. Andy Harris. But any new map wouldn’t kick in until 2028.

Instead, the state Legislature is in town this week to vote on a constitutional amendment that some party leaders believe would insulate future redistricting efforts from legal scrutiny. This, after a Maryland state court blocked a proposed 8-0 Democratic district map in 2022, charging that it ran afoul of the state Constitution.

While Democrats around the state, including Gov. Wes Moore, had called for the Legislature to enact redistricting in time for this year’s midterms, Senate President Bill Ferguson — also a Democrat — has long argued that any map redraw coming before an amendment wouldn’t pass legal muster, and that the downside risks were “catastrophic.”

“We’ve known from the beginning what is at stake, and most importantly, we have known that in this moment of American history, it is insufficient to act with haste when the consequences of missteps are so impactful,” Ferguson said at a Monday press conference. “What those consequences could have looked like: a map rejected by Maryland’s Supreme Court. A map drawn by the court that sends us backwards when we could least afford it.”

The new language aims to make clear that certain requirements around compactness and respecting natural and political boundaries apply only to legislative districts and not congressional ones, which could clear a path for the state to gerrymander.

Should lawmakers pass it, Maryland voters would still need to approve the proposed amendment in November.

Republicans have taken a major lead in the interparty redistricting war for this year’s election, particularly after redrawing maps in a handful of Southern states after the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act in April.

“A legal earthquake changed the landscape this spring,” Ferguson said. “Even worse, we saw states like Tennessee, Louisiana, and South Carolina act with haste to attempt to eliminate majority-minority congressional districts. These acts changed the calculus, and that’s why we’re here.”

(Tennessee and Louisiana changed their lines for 2026, but South Carolina ultimately did not.)

The amendment, Ferguson said, “ensures that Maryland has the ability to respond if the Trump administration or any future federal administration seeks to further erode the basic standards of democracy.”

Congress

Capitol agenda: Senate stopgap sets up fall clash with House

Published

7 hours ago

August 3, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Senators Monday will take up a bipartisan funding patch measure that sets them up for a clash with House lawmakers in September.

Senate appropriators released stopgap bill text Sunday that would fund federal agencies through Dec. 11 at current levels, with some exceptions. Leaders set an initial procedural vote tonight with hopes of passing the measure before the Senate breaks for recess.

But the bill includes several rebukes of President Donald Trump, and House lawmakers will need to decide when they return in the fall whether to take up the Senate’s version or try to muscle their own version forward.

Senators are also facing an immediate deadline crunch: Leaders will need bipartisan time agreements to fast-track legislation in order to accomplish their ambitious schedule this week, including for the funding patch. The chamber’s Republicans are preparing to potentially stay in session through the weekend, two people granted anonymity to disclose private scheduling told Blue Light News.

As for differences with the House: Senate Democrats with the backing of key Republicans like Appropriations Chair Susan Collins pushed for language to block Trump from finalizing a plan to put political appointees in charge of approving grants. The prohibition would last for the duration of the funding patch.

There’s also language Democrats have demanded ensuring no new funding goes to immigration enforcement agencies, since Republicans funded those programs through a party-line package this spring.

And while it incorporates some of the funding increases and authorizations the White House sought for specific programs, the Senate bill does not contain major military boosts the administration requested, including an extra $1 billion for a “Trump-class” battleship.

The differences stem from weeks of bipartisan negotiations between Collins and top Democratic appropriator Patty Murray — unlike the House-passed funding extension which Republicans advanced without consulting Democrats.

“This measure gives Congress the time we need to continue our work on bipartisan appropriations bills, which are always my strong preference for handling annual government funding,” Collins said in a statement.

The funding legislation is GOP leaders’ top priority in a busy sprint to recess, which is expected to include votes on Russia sanctions legislation, nominations, a cryptocurrency bill and potential initial votes on a college athletics bill.

And still up in the air: Whether Majority Leader John Thune brings a budget resolution for a third party-line bill to the floor or if his right flank insists on forcing their colleagues take a vote to allow the recess to start.

What else we’re watching:

— HOUSE GOP LEADERS SILENT AMID MILLER MESS: House Republican leaders aren’t yet publicly responding to domestic and child abuse allegations against Rep. Max Miller, including weighing in on whether Miller should continue to serve or run for his seat again. Spokespeople for Speaker Mike Johnson and his leadership team didn’t respond to a request for comment Sunday after the allegations against Miller were complicated by a statement from his former father-in-law, Sen. Bernie Moreno, who denounced the Ohio congressman for the first time. Moreno called for him to exit the House. Moreno’s statement is the first from the senator directly weighing in on Miller ahead of the Aug. 5 deadline to put someone else on the ballot.

— BLANCHE NOMINATION BACK FROM THE DEAD: Todd Blanche is suddenly back on track to be confirmed as attorney general later this week after a late-night deal Sunday. A spokesperson for Sen. John Cornyn said just before midnight he had come to terms with the Justice Department on a deal to rein in the controversial settlement agreement Trump reached with the IRS in April. With fellow holdout Sen. Thom Tillis indicating he plans to follow Cornyn’s lead, the deal appears to pave the way for a successful Senate Judiciary vote Tuesday. That could allow for Blanche’s confirmation before the summer recess begins later in the week.

Jennifer Scholtes, Jordain Carney, Mia McCarthy, Chris Marquette and Katherine Tully-McManus contributed to this report.