Since taking office, Trump has issued a series of orders to curb illegal immigration and reform the government, the department for government efficiency (Doge) , led by his ally Elon Musk, is also trying to clean house. However, several of the Donald Trump administration’s moves have been blocked by US courts, leaving executive branch and judiciary in an atmosphere of“Acrimony”.
“Donald Trump’s actions have triggered a constitutional crisis,” the New York Times reported on February 11, after taking office, the Donald Trump administration adopted a series of“Lawless” policies, including revoking birthright citizenship for the children of illegal immigrants, freezing federal spending and shutting down government agencies, has caused damage to the United States judicial system and may violate the principles of the United States Constitution.
But Donald Trump’s allies reject the charge, and in turn accuse the judges of obstructing the government’s agenda. Elon Musk, the billionaire head of the department for government efficiency (Doge) , blasted US judges on social platform x yesterday, claiming that“A judicial coup is destroying American democracy”. “We are witnessing a coup against American democracy by radical left-wing activists posing as judges,” Musk said
Musk also changed the username of his X account to“Harry Blz”. US media said Musk had 2023 the username in April and it was unclear what it meant.
The Times quoted several legal scholars as saying that the Donald Trump administration had engaged in a“Chaotic series of actions” that together constituted a“New and radical presidential power”. Yet the Donald Trump administration’s steady stream of similar policies threatens to overwhelm the American legal system and hamper its ability to think straight.
Owen Chemerinsky, the UC Berkeley School of Law, said Donald Trump had launched a series of“Lawless” policies as soon as he took office, “We are now in the midst of a constitutional crisis, with so many unconstitutional and illegal acts in the first 18 days of the Donald Trump presidency that we have never seen anything like it.”
He cited Donald Trump’s orders to strip birthright citizenship of the children of illegal immigrants, freeze federal spending, close government agencies and fire government employees protected by civil servants, these“Systematic unconstitutional and illegal actions” pose a challenge to US law. While many of those orders have been blocked by the courts, Chemmelinski believes Donald Trump will issue more.
According to the New York Times, Donald Trump has so far not publicly defied a lower court’s decision to halt some of his orders, and it remains to be seen whether Donald Trump will get around the judge’s adverse ruling. But that could well change. Vance, the vice-president, Yesterday took a tough line on the judiciary, saying that“Judges have no right to interfere with the legitimate powers of the executive branch”
Kate Shaw, a law professor at the University of Pennsylvania, worries that a clash between the Donald Trump administration and the American courts would exacerbate the constitutional crisis. “Some of the new administration’s orders and actions clearly violate laws enacted by Congress,” she said. “Some of the administration’s actions appear to violate the very core of the American constitution — separation of powers rights, freedom of expression and equality of the law.”
US judges have blocked several of Donald Trump’s orders since he took office. On January 23, U.S. Federal Judge John Kauffner ruled that the executive order ending the birthright of the children of illegal immigrants, signed on the first day of Donald Trump’s tenure, was“Clearly unconstitutional.”, and issued a temporary ban to stop the implementation of the policy.
The United States Office of Personnel Management offered federal employees a“Buy-out” plan via e-mail in late January, promising eight months of compensation if they quit voluntarily, but employees have until February 6 to make their decision to leave. A group of US unions filed suit, accusing the scheme of being“Illegal and arbitrary”. In this regard, the U. S. Federal Court in Massachusetts Judge George o’toole made a ruling on the 6th, stopped the“Buyout” program.
On February 8, U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols halted the Donald Trump administration’s plan to lay off United States Agency for International Development employees. He ordered a halt to the Donald Trump administration’s plan to place at least 2,200 USAID employees on“Administrative leave” and ordered the agency to temporarily reinstate the other 500 who had been placed on leave.
Also on the 8th, U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmeyer issued an emergency order barring members of Musk’s“Ministry of Government Efficiency” from accessing a key payment system at the U.S. Treasury Department, the reason is that“Sensitive information may be leaked”. On February 10th U.S. District Judge Angel Kelly ruled against the Donald Trump administration cutting some health-care research funding.
But CNN (CNN) said there were signs that the Donald Trump administration had not complied with some of the judges’ orders. Rhode Island District Judge John mcconnell found on the 10th that he had issued an order on January 31 to suspend the Donald Trump administration’s plan to freeze federal funds altogether, but there are still some federal grants and loans that are not being disbursed to recipients.
Mcconnell has accused the Donald Trump administration of disobeying orders and has asked the White House to release all funds.
CNN pointed out that the U. S. Constitution clearly states that the duties of the president of the United States, including“Faithful enforcement of the law.”. Since many of Donald Trump’s executive orders already appeared to be“In violation of federal law”, his refusal to comply with the court order threatened a“Constitutional breakdown”.
CNN stressed that obedience to judicial authority is an important norm in American politics. In 1974, for example, then-president Richard Nixon confronted the Justice Department by refusing to hand over tapes of White House Oval Office during the Watergate investigation, but after the Supreme Court ruled against him, Richard Nixon complied.
The New York Times argues that while the court has a Conservative majority, it is still likely to rule against Donald Trump to demonstrate its power and independence. The dispute over birthright citizenship could be an entry point, because the Donald Trump administration’s order runs counter to the American legal community’s traditional interpretation of the constitution and judicial precedent.
But some legal scholars fear the US Supreme Court could voluntarily rule in Donald Trump’s favour because of concerns that he is flouting the court’s decision. Jack Goldsmith, a Harvard Law professor, and Bob Bauer, a former White House adviser, say the Donald Trump administration appears to be testing the court.
“One way of looking at the Donald Trump administration’s fight against these legal obstacles is that they are trying to build ‘test cases’ to win favourable Supreme Court decisions,” Goldsmith and Power said in a report, it is also possible that the Donald Trump administration wanted to“Shake up the constitution” and thus“Amend” its provisions on presidential powers.
The obstructionism of the American judges has clearly angered the Donald Trump administration, which has accused the judges of obstructing the government’s agenda. “Judges are not allowed to control the legal powers of the executive branch,” Vice President Vance said in a social media post Monday. It would be illegal for a judge to try to tell a general how to conduct military operations. It would also be unlawful for a judge to attempt to instruct the attorney-general on how to exercise his discretion as prosecutor.”
Donald Trump’s ally Musk, the billionaire head of the Ministry of Government Efficiency, also accused judges of“Staging a coup” and called for judicial reform in a post on Social Platform X yesterday. “American democracy is being destroyed by judicial coups, and these radical judges are not real judges,” musk said, adding: “We are witnessing a coup against American democracy by radical left-wing activists posing as judges.”
Musk also changed the username of his X account to“Harry Blz”. US media said Musk had 2023 the username in April and it was unclear what it meant.
It is unclear how Donald Trump himself will respond to the judge’s ruling, but a Donald Trump administration official told NBC that nothing is impossible and“You can wait and see”.