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Federal judges nominated by former president Joe Biden blocked three of Donald Trump‘s executive orders within 90 minutes of each other yesterday.
Newsweek sought email comment from the office of Attorney General, Pam Bondi, on Wednesday.
Why It Matters
The decisions challenge the authority of Trump’s executive power in relation to Congress‘ lawmaking and governance of federal departments. The outcomes of the cases could define the president’s tenure and his ability to make changes.
They also illustrate the institutional resistance to Trump’s agenda as it is further hampered by courts, which have already imposed numerous junctions on his executive orders.
Alex Wong/Getty Images
What To Know
Federal judges in Washington, D.C. and Washington state have unfrozen federal grants and loans, blocked Trump from cutting the funding of the USAID aid agency, and placed a temporary injunction on his order to stop asylum seekers on the southern border.
The decisions were issued within 90 minutes of one another, The Independent newspaper reported.
Thawing the freeze
In Washington, D.C, Judge Loren AliKhan, nominated by Biden towards the end of 2023, placed a preliminary injunction on Trump’s decision to block federal grants and loans.
“In the simplest terms, the freeze was ill-conceived from the beginning,” AliKhan wrote.
“Defendants either wanted to pause up to $3 trillion in federal spending practically overnight, or they expected each federal agency to review every single one of its grants, loans, and funds for compliance in less than 24 hours,” she wrote.
“The breadth of that command is almost unfathomable.”
USAID Ultimatum
Also in Washington, D.C, Judge Amir Ali, appointed by Biden in November, 2024.,blocked the Trump Administration from defunding the aid agency, USAID.
On February 13, he had placed an emergency restraining order on the defunding of USAID.
In court on Tuesday, he sharply reprimanded government lawyers for not being able to clarify if USAID funds had been unfrozen.
“We’re now 12 days in and you can’t answer to me whether any funds you acknowledge are covered by the court’s order are unfrozen?”
“You can’t give me any facts about funds being unfrozen?” he asked.
Department of Justice attorney Indraneel Sur replied that he was “not in a position to answer.”
Ali then gave the government until midnight on Wednesday February 26 to unfreeze the funds.
Congress cannot be ignored
In Washington state, Judge Jamal N. Whitehead, appointed by Biden in March, 2023, placed a temporary block on Trump’s ban on people claiming asylum along the southern border.
“The president has substantial discretion … to suspend refugee admissions,” his order states. “But that authority is not limitless.”
He added that Trump “cannot ignore Congress’ detailed framework for refugee admissions and the limits it places on the president’s ability to suspend the same.”
What People Are Saying
In response to yesterday’s court decisions, Department Of Government Efficency co-director, Elon Musk, called for anti-Trump judges to be impeached. After conservative commentator Mike Lee wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that the judges should be “impeached and removed”, Musk replied: “It’s the only way.”
What Happens Next
The Trump administration has until midnight on Wednesday, February 26 to confirm that it has reinstated funding for USAID.
It is also likely to launch appeals to higher federal courts and, possibly, the U.S Supreme Court.
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