In a speech last night AG Barr took on the issue of these nationwide rulings against Trump by federal judges over the past two years, saying the courts are overstepping their constitutional authority and are wielding “unprecedented power”:
DAILY MAIL – In a speech Tuesday night, Barr took aim at the broad judicial power, arguing that federal judges who have issued the so-called nationwide injunctions are hampering Trump’s efforts on immigration, health care and other issues with ‘no clear end in sight.’
‘The legal community and the broader public should be more concerned, particularly about this trend of nationwide injunctions,’ Barr said.
There are many examples of courts issuing these nationwide rulings against Trump, going all the way back to his first Travel Ban that a federal judge stopped with a nationwide injunction.
However, Barr uses DACA as his example, explaining how the nationwide ruling in the DACA case limited Trump’s ability to negotiate with Congress in 2018:
Barr highlighted the legal fights that have happened in federal courts across the country over Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, an Obama-era program that shields young immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children but don’t have legal status to protect them from deportation.
The Justice Department, under former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, argued that the Obama administration acted unlawfully when it implemented DACA. Texas and other Republican-led states eventually sued and won a partial victory in a federal court in Texas.
Civil rights groups, advocates for immigrants and Democratic-led states all have sued to prevent the end of the program. A three-judge panel of the federal appeals court in San Francisco ruled that the administration decision to end DACA was arbitrary and capricious.
Barr said Trump ‘lost much of his leverage’ in negotiations with congressional Democrats, who were pushing for a permanent solution for DACA recipients, after one district court judge issued an order forcing the administration to maintain the program nationwide.
‘Unsurprisingly, those negotiations did not lead to a deal,’ Barr said.
In his speech to the American Law Institute, Barr argued it isn’t about partisanship and said the approach taken by judges who issue these nationwide rulings departs not only from the limitations of the Constitution, but also from the ‘traditional understanding of the role of courts.’ The Justice Department will continue to oppose such rulings, he said.
‘Nationwide injunctions not only allow district courts to wield unprecedented power, they also allow district courts to wield it asymmetrically,’ Barr said.
Trump has recently complained about these federal judges that have issued nationwide bans to thwart his agenda, suggesting it ‘undermines democracy and threatens the rule of law.’
Mike Pence even made news the other week when he said the Trump administration is planning to challenge the right of federal district courts to even issue these nationwide rulings.
It sounds like AG Barr is clearly on their side and intends to fight against these federal judges abusing their power.
Via TRS
