GOP lawmakers rolling out legislation to rein in federal judges blocking Trump's second term agenda

GOP lawmakers in the House and Senate are unveiling legislation that would rein in federal district court judges standing in the way of President Trump's agenda.

"District Court judges have issued RECORD numbers of national injunctions against the Trump administration - a dramatic abuse of judicial authority," Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., wrote Thursday on X. "I will introduce legislation to stop this abuse for good." According to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, 15 injunctions were imposed against Trump policies in February.

Hawley called on Congress to "stop nationwide injunctions" that are blocking some of Trump's policies from moving forward. Democrats are trying to kneecap President Trump's agenda with unelected activist judges. "It’s out of control," Hawley wrote on X. His proposed legislation would prevent district judges from halting a federal policy from being implemented nationally.

There are 94 federal judicial districts, including at least one district in each state, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Although Congress has the ability to limit the jurisdiction of federal courts, parties bringing actions against the Trump administration are accused of "forum shopping," where a party picks a district court judge sympathetic to their argument and willing to issue injunctions that reach nationwide.

Musk: "Violation of democracy"

Elon Musk, who is heading up Trump's new Department of Government Efficiency, is supporting Hawley's effort. "Something needs to be done to stop the repeated and egregious violation of democracy by the judiciary. That is obvious to all," Musk responded on X to one of Hawley's posts about his forthcoming bill.

A federal disrtict court judge recently ruled against Trump's effort to remove certain illegal immigrants from the U.S. who allegedly had ties to a Venezuelan gang. Another judge had ruled against DOGE's ability to access payment systems at some government agencies while elsewhere, yet another judge ruled that Trump's decision to close the USAID was unconstitutional.

On Monday, a judge ruled against Trump's ban on transgender individuals from serving in the U.S. military. In that case, U.S. District Court Judge Ana Reyes kept her order from going into effect for a few days to allow the administration time to file an emergency appeal.

Considering removal of judges without impeachment

Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., said Congress should move to reduce federal funding for some district courts as a way to stop nationwide injunctions. "They've definitely exceeded the bounds and scope of their jurisdictional authority, and Congress has got to act and go after that's why I've got one of my bills that's dealing with a jurisdiction on nationwide injunctions," he said on the "Just the News, Not Noise" TV program. "We're working at other things to see if we can actually rein in funding for some of these courts."

Biggs, a member of the House Judiciary and Oversight and Government Reform committees, also suggested giving Congress the power to remove federal judges without a formal impeachment process. "The Constitution doesn't mention lifetime tenure. The Constitution mentions the term 'good behavior,' and I believe that allows us a reason to actually terminate them, fire them for failure to for their misconduct," he said.

Biggs wrote Friday on X that his proposed bill, the Injunctive Authority Clarification Act, would limit the "jurisdiction of federal courts" under Article III, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution. "Woke activist judges must not be allowed to make sweeping legislative decisions for all Americans," he wrote.

Issa's approach backed by Johnson

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., a House Judiciary Committee member, has also proposed the No Rogue Rulings Act, which would prevent a U.S. district court from issuing any "order providing for injunctive relief, except in the case of such an order that is applicable only to limit the actions of a party to the case before such district court with respect to the party seeking injunctive relief from such district court."

Issa said the U.S. has a "crisis on the bench right now," calling his bill the "comprehensive solution" that's needed to "ensure that this problem does not occur anywhere in our federal judiciary and resets the proper and appropriate balance in our courts."

On Saturday, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., signaled support for Issa's bill. "The House is working overtime to limit the abuses of activist federal judges. Our @JudiciaryGOP will expose the worst offenders in a high-profile hearing & we are preparing urgent legislative action, like the @repdarrellissa bill to stop unfounded nationwide injunctions," Johnson wrote on X along with a screenshot of a graphic showing Trump has already had more injunctions than Biden.

Musk responded to Johnson's post on X. "America, Land of the FREE," he wrote. "No more judicial TYRANNY!!"

MS-13 and Tren de Aragua

Rep. Mike Rulli, R-Ohio, argued that Congress needs to take action against federal judges, in particular D.C. Chief District Judge James Boasberg, who has ruled against Trump's effort to remove illegal immigrants with suspected gang ties.

"You have a low-level federal judge trying to act like he's Caesar. This guy is going to get knocked down the peg. He has misinterpreted the law on every different level. The Supreme Court has got to turn that into garbage," he said on the "Just the News, Not Noise" TV program. "And we saw the President of El Salvador when he said, 'oops, a little too late.' He already has them, and I think we know how he handles these terrorist organizations like MS-13. He puts them away forever, like they should be," he added.

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson also said he would support efforts to rein in Boasberg. "Under federal law, the president should be able to do things like affect foreign policy and engage in the protection of national security. This judge has no more business trying to turn a plane around taking terrorists out of this country than that judge has going into the Pentagon and telling generals that they can't fire missiles at combatants," he said on the "Just the News, Not Noise" TV program.

"I fully support the president's right to be able to remove terrorists from this country. When you look at Tren de Aragua, this is a Venezuelan gang that began in a prison in Venezuela and has been stood up and supported by the Maduro regime down there, so it's supported by the government," he added.