Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) announced on Thursday that he plans to introduce legislation to stop the use of lawfare to stymie President Donald Trump’s agenda.
The senator in a post on X said, “District Court judges have issued RECORD numbers of national injunctions against the Trump administration – a dramatic abuse of judicial authority.”
District Court judges have issued RECORD numbers of national injunctions against the Trump administration - a dramatic abuse of judicial authority. I will introduce legislation to stop this abuse for good
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) March 20, 2025
During an appearance on conservative podcaster Charlie Kirk’s show, Hawley said district and federal courts are saying they are “just going to issue an order that says what the executive branch can or cannot do in my district, I’m going to issue an order that binds the executive branch for the entire nation.”
Either the Supreme Court needs to intervene and make clear there's only one court that can issue rules for the whole country, that's the Supreme Court, that's why we only have one of them. And or, if they won't do that, Congress needs to legislate and make clear that district courts do not have the ability to issue these kinds of injunctions.
Sen. Josh Hawley SLAMS local district court judges issuing national injunctions on the Trump admin, calls for SCOTUS or Congress to intervene:
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) March 19, 2025
"These are district courts, local federal courts, that are saying, 'I'm not just going to issue an order that says what the executive… https://t.co/e1lzI3cSP5 pic.twitter.com/0KzcpkkxnW
Indeed, Democrats have taken to using the court system to hamper Trump’s policies since they do not control either chamber of Congress. Most recently, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg ordered the Trump administration not to deport over 200 Venezuelan illegal immigrants under the Alien Enemies Act. However, the plan was already in the air when he issued the order, so the illegals, many of whom were suspected members of the Tren de Aragua gang, still made it to El Salvador, where they are being housed in a maximum security facility.
Another judge recently blocked Trump’s executive order banning trans-identified individuals from the military.
These are only a few of the lawsuits Democrats have filed against the Trump administration. These efforts are expected to keep the courts quite busy as the White House fights back against the legal onslaught.
At first glance, what Hawley is proposing sounds like a good and reasonable idea. After all, how much power should the judiciary have when it comes to checking the executive branch?
However, this type of legislation could easily be used against Republicans when Democrats eventually regain power. Indeed, while former President Joe Biden was in office, he faced similar challenges when trying to implement certain policies.
U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton, based in Texas, issued a national injunction on the Biden White House’s 100-day moratorium on deportations. The administration was eventually forced to abandon the policy.
Another judge blocked Biden’s executive order halting new oil and gas leases on federal lands in 2021. The ruling came after a lawsuit filed by 13 GOP-led states claiming that the move would harm their economies.
The same judge also issued an injunction against Biden’s executive order mandating the COVID-19 vaccine for healthcare workers at facilities that receive Medicare and Medicaid funds. Red states argued that this move exceeded federal authority.
There are plenty of instances in which judges have rightly stopped a president from issuing sweeping executive orders. Of course, as we have seen so far, there are times when a judge’s ability to issue nationwide orders goes wrong. But even then, the matter can and will be litigated in court. In many of these situations, the Trump administration stands a good chance of winning the overall legal battles.
Eliminating this ability would free up the president to enact his agenda. But it would also make it easier for future Democratic presidents to push theirs as well, which won’t exactly be good for the country.
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