By John Kruzel
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Donald Trump urged the Supreme Court on Thursday to curtail the ability of federal judges to issue injunctions blocking his administration’s actions nationwide, marking the latest sign of tension between the Republican president and the U.S. judiciary.
Federal courts are hearing more than 100 lawsuits challenging various initiatives by Trump and his administration since he returned to the presidency in January, with some judges imposing nationwide injunctions to block policies such as his move to curtail automatic birthright citizenship.
“STOP NATIONWIDE INJUNCTIONS NOW, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE,” Trump wrote in a social media post. “If Justice Roberts and the United States Supreme Court do not fix this toxic and unprecedented situation IMMEDIATELY, our Country is in very serious trouble!”
The Supreme Court’s 6-3 conservative majority includes three justices appointed by Trump during his first term as president.
Lawyers representing the administration asked the justices on March 13 to narrow a judicial block imposed on Trump’s order on birthright citizenship, a key element of his hardline approach toward immigration.
The Justice Department made the request challenging the scope of three nationwide injunctions issued against Trump’s order by federal judges in Washington state, Massachusetts and Maryland.
Trump’s latest comments come after Chief Justice John Roberts rebuked the president on Tuesday for urging the impeachment of a federal judge handling a legal challenge to deportation flights carrying Venezuelans accused of being gang members. Tensions have flared between the president and the judiciary as his sweeping assertions of executive power encounter judicial roadblocks.
Roberts wrote: “For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision.” The correct response was to file an appeal, Roberts said.
Nationwide injunctions have been issued by federal judges against prior presidential administrations as well. Trump’s predecessor, Democratic former President Joe Biden, had parts of his agenda stymied by such judicial roadblocks, including a nationwide injunction issued against his plan to cancel $430 billion in student loan debt, a policy ultimately blocked by the Supreme Court.
(Reporting by John Kruzel; Editing by Chris Reese)
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