Congress Moves to Block Nationwide Judicial Orders

With at least a dozen nationwide judicial orders in place against executive orders issued by Donald Trump. Republicans in Congress are pushing a law to bar them except at the topmost level.

Legal experts say the ability of federal judges in District and Appeals Courts to issue such orders is essential for the judiciary to provide checks and balances on the executive branch of government.

Senator Chuck Grassley and Congressional Representative Darrell Issa (R-CA48) have introduced bills in their respective portions of Congress to prohibit lower courts from issuing nationwide orders. Grassley’s bill also makes temporary restraining orders immediately subject to appeal. Currently, TROs cannot be appealed. TROs start at up to two weeks in length and can be extended. Injunctions, the next legal step a court can take, can be appealed.

The House may vote on Issa’s bill as early as this week. It is likely to pass in the House where Republicans have a clear majority. The filibuster could present some difficulty with taking it to the floor of the Senate.

University of Michigan law professor Barbara McQuade says, “Ending nationwide injunctions would create more problems than it solves. Without them, a federal judge who finds a substantial likelihood that an executive order violates the law could block its implementation only in that district, leading to a patchwork of rulings across the country.”

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