How the Trump regime’s clash with the courts is brewing into an ‘all-out war’
Arresting judges. Threatening their impeachment. Routinely slamming them on social media and trying to go around them completely.
President Donald Trump and his allies have led an intense pressure campaign on the judiciary four months into his administration. Both sides of the political spectrum are using the term constitutional crisis.
“It’s an all-out war on the lower courts,” said former federal Judge John Jones III, who was appointed by President George W. Bush.
As the clash becomes a defining moment in the president’s second term, conservative activists are pushing Congress to rein in federal judges and pressing Trump to intensify his fight with the courts. The Article III Project, a Trump-aligned group, arranged 164,000 phone calls, emails and social media messages to members of Congress in recent weeks urging lawmakers to back Trump in this judiciary fight. They called for impeaching Judge James Boasberg – one of the federal judges who has drawn MAGA’s ire – after he ordered a temporary halt to Trump’s effort to deport some immigrants. They also want lawmakers to cut the federal budget for the judiciary by $2 billion after Judge Amir Ali ordered the Trump administration to unfreeze that amount of foreign aid.
The group is supporting bills introduced by Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Rep. Darrell Issa, R-California, aimed at stopping federal district judges from issuing nationwide court orders, which have blocked some of Trump’s policies. Mike Davis, a former Republican Senate aide and the Article III Project’s founder and leader, said the legislation sends a message to Chief Justice John Roberts as the Supreme Court weighs taking a position on the injunctions. Issa’s bill has cleared the House, while Grassley’s has yet to advance.
“It’s really effective,” Davis said. “When you talk about these legislative reforms it scares the hell out of the chief justice.” [Continue reading…]