• Trump is nearly undefeated at the Supreme Court

    From Leroy N. Soetoro@21:1/5 to All on Fri Apr 18 18:58:17 2025
    XPost: law.court.federal, alt.politics.republicans, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh XPost: talk.politics.guns, sac.politics

    https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/all-things-trump/thutrump-nearly- undefeated-supreme-court

    Despite the Trump administration’s repeated lamentations over left-aligned federal court judges blocking its executive orders and efforts to shrink
    the bureaucracy, the Supreme Court has almost routinely allowed his orders
    to take effect and rebuked those lower court judges for exceeding their authority.

    While the top bench has yet to formally address the matter of nationwide injunctions on its own, it has handed the administration a number of wins
    on a wide range of issues, including immigration cases; the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) access to documents; and the firing of
    federal employees.

    Lower court judges attracted the ire of MAGA-aligned lawmakers and White
    House staffers amid a string of injunctions and prompted legislative
    efforts to rein in their authority. The House of Representatives last week passed the “No Rogue Rulings Act” in a 218-214 vote.

    Congress has the authority to establish jurisdictional limits under
    Article III, Section 2, Clause 1 of the U.S. Constitution, which defines
    the types of "cases and controversies" for which federal courts have jurisdiction. In this case, the legislation would bar judges from issuing injunctions, save for an "order providing for injunctive relief, except in
    the case of such an order that is applicable only to limit the actions of
    a party to the case before such district court with respect to the party seeking injunctive relief from such district court."

    In Supreme Court filings, Acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris noted that "District courts have issued more universal injunctions and TROs during February 2025 alone than through the first three years of the Biden Administration. That sharp rise in universal injunctions stops the
    Executive Branch from performing its constitutional functions before any
    courts fully examine the merits of those actions, and threatens to swamp
    this Court’s emergency docket."

    The legislation is expected to face an uphill battle in the Senate, which
    has a different vision for addressing the issue. But with many of the most high-profile orders nullified, the push for reform may waver.

    Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s deportation
    Though widely reported as a loss for the administration, the Supreme
    Court’s recent 9-0 ruling on the matter of illegal alien Kilmar Abrego
    Garcia to his home country of El Salvador strongly rebuked the lower court judge who ordered his return to the U.S. and a stay from Chief Justice
    John Roberts has afforded the administration time to stave off a contempt
    of court finding.

    Abrego Garcia was subject to a 2019 withholding order forbidding his deportation due to concerns the government of El Salvador would not
    protect him. He was nonetheless removed to his home country through what
    the administration called an “administrative error.” Washington has
    alleged he is a member of the MS-13 gang, which he denies. The U.S.
    District Court for Maryland ordered the government to “facilitate and effectuate” his return by April 7.

    Much of the reporting on the case has been inaccurate or incomplete. In
    fact, the Supreme Court stayed the deadline and added that while the lower court could tell the Trump administration to “facilitate” his return,
    “[t]he intended scope of the term ‘effectuate’ in the District Court’s
    order is, however, unclear, and may exceed the District Court’s
    authority.”

    For the time being, Abrego Garcia will remain in El Salvadoran custody as President Nayib Bukele has declined to release him. U.S. District Judge
    Paula Xinis, however, has demanded the U.S. provide documentation of its efforts to return Abrego Garcia. The U.S. government — including the
    Judicial Branch — has no authority to demand that the government of El
    Salvador return Garcia.

    The Alien Enemies Act
    Among the most high-profile immigration actions that Trump has taken since returning to office is his invocation of the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to
    speedily deport members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. That gang
    was declared a "terrorist organization" by President Trump on his first
    day in office.

    U.S. District Judge James Boasberg issued a March 15 order to block deportations made under the law. But the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 to
    overturn the stay. Widely unreported was the Supreme Court's finding that Boasberg’s Washington, D.C., court was an inappropriate venue for the
    case, given the aliens subject to removal were confined in Texas.

    “Regardless of whether the detainees formally request release from
    confinement, because their claims for relief 'necessarily imply the
    invalidity’ of their confinement and removal under the AEA, their claims
    fall within the ‘core’ of the writ of habeas corpus and thus must be
    brought in habeas,” they wrote, confirming that the deportees had the
    right to challenge their removal.

    But the reversal of Boasberg's order and the relocation of the case to
    Texas, a venue far more favorable to the administration, served as a
    rebuke of both the judicial injunction and the venue shopping practice
    that has seen opponents secure judicial stays from favorable judges with questionable jurisdiction.

    Boasberg fired back on Wednesday with a determination that there was
    “probable cause” to find the administration in contempt of court, though
    it remains unclear how such a determination will move forward after the
    Supreme Court found his venue inappropriate.

    Boasberg himself became the focus of ethical questions after Just The News reported that a Republican member of Congress and a Harvard professor
    called for a ban on special interest judicial junkets following Just the
    News revealing that Judge Boasberg attended a privately-funded conference
    with an anti-Trump organization last year.

    Mass firing of federal workers allowed by SCOTUS
    As part of DOGE’s efforts to dramatically shrink the size of the federal government, the administration fired thousands of probationary employees
    within the first few months. Judge William Alsup, however, found that
    myriad federal departments had unlawfully fired employees from the
    Departments of Agriculture, Defense, Energy, Interior, Treasury and
    Veterans Affairs, and ordered that they be reinstated.

    A panel of the 9th Circuit, moreover, upheld Alsup’s ruling and the
    government filed an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court. The top bench immediately blocked the order and allowed the administration to remove the roughly 16,000 employees by placing them on administrative leave.

    Labor board firings
    Last week, Chief Justice John Roberts handed Trump a temporary win by permitting him to remove former National Labor Relations Board member
    Gwynne Wilcox and former Merit Systems Protection Board member Cathy
    Harris amid legal challenges.

    Roberts’s move overturned a federal appeals court decision that found
    Trump lacked the authority to fire members of adjudicatory boards. Both
    Wilcox and Harris were Biden appointees.

    Both board members had until April 15 to respond to the administration’s arguments, though Roberts has yet to issue a permanent decision.

    USAID funds
    Trump met a notable defeat on the matter of freezing funds from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The court ruled 5-4
    to require the administration to distribute billions in frozen funds, much
    to the shock of conservative justices. Roberts and Associate Justice Amy
    Coney Barrett sided with the court’s liberals in issuing the order.

    "Does a single district-court judge who likely lacks jurisdiction have the unchecked power to compel the Government of the United States to pay out
    (and probably lose forever) 2 billion taxpayer dollars?” Associate Justice Samuel Alito wrote in dissent. “The answer to that question should be an emphatic 'No,' but a majority of this Court apparently thinks otherwise. I
    am stunned.”

    Lower courts
    The administration has also secured wins at lower levels to advance its administrative goals. Last Friday, Judge Jeannette A. Vargas relaxed her
    own previous order to permit DOGE employee Ryan Wunderly to access
    sensitive payment data from the Treasury Department if he went through the
    same training that department employees do for handling such data.

    Nineteen Democratic state attorneys general have sued to stop DOGE from accessing Treasury payment systems over privacy concerns. DOGE has thus
    far saved an estimated $150 billion, but is well shy of its $2 trillion
    goal. That case was far from the only legal challenge to DOGE’s access, however, and in February, U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer issued a
    similar block.

    Reacting to that decision, Musk identified the need to review payment
    systems as ranking among the most vital for him to address government
    spending. "How on Earth are we supposed to stop fraud and waste of
    taxpayer money without looking at how money is spent? That’s literally impossible! Something super shady is going to protect scammers," Musk
    wrote at the time.

    The matter could ultimately reach the Supreme Court, but for the time
    being, it appears DOGE will be able to secure access to Treasury
    Department payment data.


    --
    November 5, 2024 - Congratulations President Donald Trump. We look
    forward to America being great again.

    The disease known as Kamala Harris has been effectively treated and
    eradicated.

    We live in a time where intelligent people are being silenced so that
    stupid people won't be offended.

    Durham Report: The FBI has an integrity problem. It has none.

    Thank you for cleaning up the disaster of the 2008-2017 Obama / Biden
    fiasco, President Trump.

    Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the
    The World According To Garp. Obama sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood
    queer liberal democrat donors.

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