Trump asks Supreme Court to curb judges’ power to block policies nationwide
The emergency appeal comes in the battle over birthright citizenship — but it could have ripple effects in cases challenging many aspects of Trump’s agenda.
President Donald Trump is asking the Supreme Court to eliminate a key tool that lower courts have used to block various aspects of his agenda.
In an emergency appeal Thursday, Trump asked the justices to rein in or shelve three nationwide injunctions lower-court judges have issued against his bid to end birthright citizenship. But his request could have repercussions far beyond the debate over the controversial citizenship plan.
Judges have used nationwide injunctions to hobble many of Trump’s early moves, from his bid to end “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion” programs to his cuts to federal medical research.
But Trump’s acting solicitor general, Sarah Harris, argued to the Supreme Court that federal district judges have no authority to issue sweeping orders that block policies nationwide. Instead, Harris suggested, an injunction should apply only in the geographic district where the judge is located — or only to the specific individuals or groups that sued.
“Years of experience have shown that the Executive Branch cannot properly perform its functions if any judge anywhere can enjoin every presidential action everywhere,” Harris wrote, contending that while administrations of both parties have lamented the practice, it has reached “epidemic proportions” during Trump’s current term.
Lower-court judges issued 15 nationwide blocks of Trump administration actions in February, Harris asserted, although in some instances the same policy was blocked by multiple judges. That one-month total outstrips the 14 nationwide injunctions issued against the federal government in the first three years of President Joe Biden’s term, she wrote, citing a law review study.
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/0...tions-00229431