House Republicans passed legislation on Wednesday aimed at limiting the reach of so-called “rogue” judges who have paused some of President Trump’s executive orders from taking effect.
The “No Rogue Rulings Act” cleared the lower chamber in a 219-213 vote, with one Republican, Rep. Michael Turner (R-Ohio), joining all Democrats in opposing the legislation.
“We took on the activist judges and their rogue rulings. Now it’s on to the Senate to send this to the desk of [Trump],” Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), who sponsored the bill, wrote on X.
The legislation would generally prohibit district court judges from issuing nationwide injunctions that extend to non-parties of lawsuits and fast-track the appeals process by appointing three-judge panels at random to hear cases involving the same dispute in different jurisdictions — and allowing that panel to “issue an injunction that would otherwise be prohibited.”
Trump is expected to sign the legislation if it clears the Senate and reaches his desk.
However, a senior GOP aide told The Post earlier this month that the Senate was unlikely to take it up for a vote.
The bill would need the support of several Democrats to hit the upper chamber’s 60-vote threshold for passage.
Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) have already introduced their own bills to curtail lower courts’ authority.
Federal judges have slapped Trump with at least 15 sweeping injunctions since he returned to the White House, including pausing the president’s orders to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, end birthright citizenship and bar transgender Americans from serving in the military.
The Supreme Court recently lifted two district court injunctions — one that had blocked the Trump administration from invoking the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport suspected Venezuelan gang members and another that forced the government to rehire thousands of fired probationary federal workers.
Other GOP bills have also been floated to rein in the federal judiciary — including a resolution from freshman Rep. Brandon Gill (R-Texas) to impeach DC District Judge James Boasberg – the jurist who blocked Trump from using the Alien Enemies Act – and a bill from Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) to remove the jurist “for failure to remain in good behavior.”
The Biggs bill would circumvent the 60-vote threshold in the Senate needed for conviction after a judge is impeached in the House.