Chuck Grassley unveils legislation to clarify scope of judicial reach

The bill, titled the Judicial Relief Clarification Act of 2025, would allow restraining orders to be immediately appealed and limit court orders to only impact people in the case.

By Misty Severi

Published: March 31, 2025 6:19pm

Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley on Monday introduced a bill that seeks to clarify the role of the judicial branch and limit federal court orders by ending universal injunctions.

The legislation comes after Republicans have pushed back on multiple court rulings and federal judges' use of universal injunctions, including ones that block President Donald Trump's recent executive orders.

The bill, titled the Judicial Relief Clarification Act of 2025, would amend the Administrative Procedure Act and the Declaratory Judgment Act to allow restraining orders to be immediately appealed and limit court orders to only impact people in the case.

“For a number of years, but particularly in the last few months, we’ve increasingly seen sweeping orders from individual district judges that dictate national policy," Grassley said in a statement. "Our Founders saw an important role for the judiciary, but the Constitution limits judges to exercising power over ‘cases’ or ‘controversies.’

"Judges are not policymakers, and allowing them to assume this role is very dangerous,” he continued. “The Judicial Relief Clarification Act clarifies the scope of judicial power and resolves illegitimate judicial infringement upon the executive branch. It’s a commonsense bill that’s needed to provide long-term constitutional clarity and curb district courts’ growing tendency to overstep by issuing sweeping, nationwide orders.”

Supreme Court Justices, including those appointed by a Democratic president, have indicated support for abolishing universal injunctions. Justice Elena Kagan in 2022 told a Northwestern University Law School audience that “It just can’t be right that one district judge can stop a nationwide policy in its tracks and leave it stopped for the years it takes to go through the normal process.”

The bill is co-sponsored by 21 Republican senators, including Sens. John Barrasso of Wyoming, Jim Justice of West Virginia, Steve Daines of Montana, Ted Cruz of Texas and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.