House bill could neutralize court orders
Enforcing injunctions could come with a price
By: Bart Jansen
USA Today
WASHINGTON - A provision in the House-passed package of President Donald Trump's priorities would erect what one judge called a trillion-dollar barrier to challenging his policies in federal court.
.....
At stake is whether judges can enforce their orders blocking Trump polices that are ruled unlawful, as they already have 180 times. The muscle behind court orders is that judges could find government officials in contempt if they disobey, threatening contempt with fines, sanctions or even jail.
..... But the obscure House provision would prevent judges form enforcing their orders unless litigants post a bond. The bond could match the amount at stake in the lawsuit, which in one case was trillions in federal grants.
..... Without the threat of contempt, legal experts say the Trump administration could ignore court orders with impunity.
..... "What this provision would do, is say that actually, no court of the United States could enforce an injunction or restraining order using their contempt authority," Eric Kashdan, senior legal counsel for federal advocacy at the nonprofit Campaign Legal Center, told USA Today.
..... The legislation deals with one of the rules governing federal civil lawsuits - known as 65(c). It calls for litigants to post a bond if they win a court order such as an injunction or a temporary restraining order to block something from happening, in case the defendant ultimately wins the case.
..... Judges have discretions about how much to set the bond. But the goal is to have the bond comparable to how much the defendant might lose while the case is litigated, such as a blocked merger.
.....
For decades, judges have waived bonds in cases against the government because the lawsuits aren't typically over money - they are about a disputed policy or the Constitution.
..... In February, [2025] U.S. District Judge Loren Alikhan refused a request from Trump's White House Office of Management Budget to require bond from the Natioanl council of Nonprofits when she blocked the governemnt from freezing w all federal grants.
..... "the court declines," Alikhan wrote. She noted the government was "alleged to have unlawfully withheld trillions of dollars of previously committed funds to countless recipients." But she said OMB would suffer no monetary injury from her injunction.
..... The legislative provisions in the budget reconciliation bill prohibits federal courts from enforcing contempt citations unless a bond was posted when an injunction or temporary restraining order was issued.
..... It apples to court orders before, on or after the legislation is enacted, meaning it would apply to all the orders already issued.
.....
Judges would have to weigh proposals to determine what bonds should be required in each case, according to legal experts. with discretion, a judge could impose a nominal $1 bond, but the process would still take time, experts said.
..... "All temporary restraining orders, preliminary injunctions, and permanent injunctions where no bond had been posted no longer would be enforceable by contempt," Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of law school at the University of California, Berkeley, told USA Today.
Blocked in federal courts
..... Trump singed 157 executive orders by May 23 [2025] - an unprecedented number four months into a presidential term - to put sweeping polices in place quickly, without waiting for legislation through Congress.
..... The orders led to 250 lawsuits challenging Trump's dismantling of federal agencies, firing of federal workers, swift deportation of immigrants, ending of diversity initiative and imposition of tariffs. The rulings in deportation cases include:
* U>S. District Judge James Boasberg in Washington, D.C., fouls probable cause on April 16 [2025] that the government acted with criminal contempt for his order blocking the deportation of Venezuelans who were accused of begin gang members before they had a chance to fight the designation in court. the government appealed his ruling.
* U.S. District Paula Xinin in Maryland has held repeated hearings asking for updates from the government on the deportation of a Salvadoran immigrant who was mistakenly deported despite an mitigation court order preventing his removal. Government officials have argued they no longer have custody of the migrant to return him because he is in a Salvadoran prison.
* U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy in Massachusetts ruled May 21 [2025] the government violated his order temporarily halting deportations to countries other than were migrants were from, after six migrants were flown to South Sudan. the government asked the Supreme Court on May 27 [2025] to lift Murphy block.
..... Trump and his allies have argued that judges are infringing on his authority to protect national security and negotiate foreign affairs with outer countries.
..... "We hope that the Supreme Court will weight in and rein then in,' White House press secretary Karoline Levitt said May 29 [2025] of "rogue judges."
..... But legal experts said quivering the deported immigrants to post a bond would likely prohibit them from having case heard in federal courts. If courts are no longer able to enforce their orders under the legislation, experts said the government might just ignore the orders.
A 'separation of powers issue'
..... The dispute over enforcing court orders ads congress' legislative branch to the raging debate over the separation of powers between Trump's executive branch carrying out laws and judges interpreting some of his actions as unlawful.
.....
Trump has blasted judges who ruled against him but said he will obey court orders and appeal the ones he doesn't like. As Trump appeals, the Supreme Court faces an unprecedented 14 emergency requests from the administration to green-light his policies, including four that are still pending.
..... In the legislative debate, legal experts say Trump's fellow Republicans leading Congress will decide whether to hinder the courts at the president's request from enforcing orders against the executive branch.
..... "This is Congress saying 'No, we don't think you can enforce these orders; and they're doing that at the strong demands of the executive branch,' Kashdan said. "It's a huge separation of powers issued for what underlies our democracy, and all the checks and balances we're supposed to have."
..... Senators will review the legislation with a goal of sending any changes back to the House and to Trump before July 4. [2025]