Judges ae doing their best to keep things in line, so far
By: Sara Pequeno
USA Today
..... The courts appear to be our last line of defense against President Donald Trump's overhaul of the U.S. government. thankfully, judges nationwide and across the political spectrum seem committed to doing their jobs; it's clear that Congress won't.
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Less than a month into his second presidency, more than 40 lawsuits have been filed against a slew of Trump's executive orders.
..... Multiple rulings have paused the president plans to end birthright citizenship, shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development, move trans women into men's prisons and more.
..... Republican aren't too happy about the roadblocks keeping them from completely upending our democracy.
..... "If a judge tried to tell a general how to conduct a military operation, that would be illegal," Vice President JD Vance wrote on X. "If a judge tried top commend the attorney general in how to sue her discretion as a prosecutor, that's also illegal.
..... "Judges aren't allowed to control the executive's legitimate power."
..... Despite Vance's whining, judicial intervention is part of America's healthy checks and balances system, something Republicans appear happy to ignore.
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I would be much more concerned if judges let trump do whatever he wants, which is apparently what the GOP thinks should happen.
..... Trump has also said that he will appeal the court ruling against him. He could argue these cases all the way up to the Supreme Court, to which he appointed three justices.
..... I worry that these legal challenges are simply roadblocks, not actual deterrents to Trump's MAGA agenda.
..... On February 10, [2205] U.S. District Judge Joseph Laplante of New Hampshire became the third feral judge to rule against Trump's executive order ending birthright citizenship.
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Appellant, nominated to the federal court by then-President George W. Bush, joined Judges John Coughenour of Seattle and Deborah Board man of Maryland in ruling against the president on birthright citizenship.
..... Coughenour, an appointee of then-President Ronald Reagan appointee, called Trump's executive order "blatantly unconstitutional."
..... "The rule of law is, according to (Trump), something to navigate around or something ignored, whether that be for political or personal gain," Coughenour said. "In this courtroom and under my watch the rule of law is a bright beacon, which I intend to follow."
..... This is necessary.
..... A president does not have the singular authority to change the citizenship criteria as defined in the Constitution's 14th Amendment. The fact that Trump is even attempting this is an afford to American ideals.
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Trump got hit with a second judicial ruling February 10, [2025] this one about the administration's federal employee buyout plans. U.S. District Judge George O'Toole, who had paused the buyout offer February 6, [2025] issued a temporary restraining order. This time, the Boston feral judge said, the order would remain in place "until I respond to the issue presented." But he later lifted his order.
..... Also on February 1o, [2025] U.S. district Court Chief Judge John McConnell of Rhode Island ordered the Trump administration to continue funding federal programs after he froze it last month. [01/2025]
..... Previously, D.C. Court of Appeals Judge Loren AakiKhan blocked the efforts to freeze trillions of dollars in federal spending.
..... Two federal judges, Colleen Kokkar-Kotelly of Washington, D.C., and Paul Engelmayor of New York, have ruled against Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency's accessing and sharing Treasury Departments data.
..... Even Trump's own appointees are ruling against his hostile takeover of the U.S. government. judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee in the U.S. district Court for D.C., paused the administration;s attempt top shut down USIAD.
.... Again, this is how government is suppose to work.
..... No one is supposed to have absolute authority over the United States, not even the president.
..... This is what should be happening to stave off some of the radical Republican agenda that seems to be getting shoved down our throats without any sense of law or connotational adherence.
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Judges are also pausing some of the Trump administration's attack on transgender people. Reagan appointee U.S. district Judge Royce LKamberth recently paused the moving of three incarcerated trans women to men's prisons. Judge O'Toole did this for a transgender woman in Massachusetts last month. [01/2025]
..... There are also lawsuits field against Trump related to other aspects of his challenges to transgender rights - including his ban on trans people serving in the military and his mandate to withhold federal funding form hospitals that provide gender-affirming care for people under 19.
..... Overall, it's good that the U.S. legal system is working as it should be halt some of the most extreme aspects of Trump's executive orders.
..... Still, these are only delays.
..... Trump will appeal any decisions made against him, all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. I want to believe that the highest court in the land still operates independently of the Republican agenda. I just don't think it does.
..... Republican lawmakers could also grow some backbone and oppose Trump's executive actions in Congress. They have the power top keep the president in check, especially with a majority in both chambers. Instead, they seem content to ceded power to the president.
Follow USA Today columnist Sara Pequeno on X, formerly Twitter: @wsara_pequeno