Last week, unelected District Court Judge Brian Murphy told the Trump administration that it must bring back an illegal alien who was deported because, according to Murphy, the alien needs due process — and the Trump administration buckled.
In court filings on Wednesday, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said it would bring back the illegal alien, designated by the initials O.C.G., after Murphy ruled that the administration “ignored” certain steps in the removal process.
But Trump should buck rogue judges, not buckle to them.
Just this past week, another district court judge ordered the Trump administration to continue to allow thousands of immigrants to remain under a parole program so that they can continue to work in the country. Trump tried to curtail its use after pointing out that the Biden administration misused the power to facilitate a mass invasion.
A different unelected district court judge halted the administration from making “any permanent changes to Harvard’s student visa program.” The administration sought to revoke Harvard’s ability to take in international students after Harvard failed to curb antisemitism on campus, among other things. Judge Allison Burroughs issued a preliminary injunction, allowing the school to continue accepting foreigners.
These rogue judges are all members of the inferior judiciary, that is, the part of the judiciary created by Congress under Article III, Section 1. Yet, these individual judges have single-handedly usurped the authority of the executive branch in attempting to halt or dictate the actions of Trump since the day he took office. If that is to remain the case, then it means the United States is no longer a government of three co-equal branches. Instead, she is living under the rule of one branch — the judiciary — which has the ultimate authority, or so say a few unelected district court judges.
It’s not that Trump should pretend courts don’t exist. But Trump should restore constitutional order by rejecting the demands of lawless authoritarians masquerading as nonpartisan arbiters of the truth.
The Founders never intended for one branch of government to have power over another. Thomas Jefferson made as much clear in an 1804 letter to Abigail Adams, writing that “nothing in the constitution has given them a right to decide for the executive, more than to the Executive to decide for them.”
“The opinion which gives to the judges the right to decide what laws are constitutional, and what not, not only for themselves in their own sphere of action, but for the legislature & executive also in their spheres, would make the judiciary a despotic branch,” Jefferson said.
Jefferson later expressed concern in an 1819 letter to Virginia Judge Spencer Roane that the Constitution would become “a mere thing of wax in the hands of the judiciary which they may twist and shape into any form they please.”
Trump isn’t being asked to ignore the courts. But he is being asked to reject the illegitimate power grab by unelected inferior court judges. If Trump caves to rogue rulings, it legitimizes the judicial coup plaguing this nation — and America can’t afford that.
Brianna Lyman is an elections correspondent at The Federalist. Brianna graduated from Fordham University with a degree in International Political Economy. Her work has been featured on Newsmax, Fox News, Fox Business and RealClearPolitics. Follow Brianna on X: @briannalyman2
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