Below is my column in the New York Post on the first 100 days of the Trump Administration in court. It is too early to handicap many of these lower courts decisions. I have been critical of some of these orders as either premature or unconstitutional. There is a reason for the hyperkinetic pace of the Administration. However, it needs greater focus and discipline in picking cases.
Here is the column:
The first 100 days of the Trump administration have been described in the same way on sites ranging from the ACLU to Vanity Fair: Chaos.
It seems like the Justice Department is battling everywhere on everything at the same time.
It is indeed chaos, but it is not necessarily as random or as reckless as it may seem to the naked eye.
I have been critical of a number of legal moves by the Trump administration, including policies that undermine free speech values. Yet there is a type of legal chaos theory behind all of these actions. In science, chaos theory suggests that, even in a system of seemingly random actions, there can be patterns and interconnections.
The hyperkinetic litigation around the country reflects two realities.
First, Democratic state governments and groups have a massive war chest to challenge any and every new policy of President Trump. In California, the Democrats actually pre-approved a litigation fund before the inauguration to do precisely that.
Second, and more importantly, Trump promised sweeping changes from immigration to transgender policies to education reforms.
If you know that you are going to be challenged, it is better to get into court as soon as possible to move critical cases through the legal system. What you need is finality. Even if you lose cases, you need to know what authority you have.
Immigration wins
This is an administration in a hurry. Trump learned in his first term that you need to move as fast and as far as possible in the first two years of a presidential term.
With the midterm elections looming, Trump knows that reforms may end and investigations and impeachments will begin if the Democrats retake the House in 2026.
Despite some losses, the Justice Department has succeeded generally in reaffirming its authority to seek the reduction of government and to root out waste. It has also made real progress in other areas.
Take the area of greatest success for the Trump administration: Immigration.
One thing that was clearly established in the first 100 days is that the entry of millions of unlawful immigrants was a choice made by the Biden administration and the Democrats. They could have stopped most of these entries at any time, but elected to leave the southern border effectively open for four years as millions poured over.
In a matter of weeks, Trump effectively closed the border. In February, there were just 8,326 southern border encounters, down from 189,913 in February 2024. Daily encounters this week declined 97% from Biden.
As many of us stated during the Biden administration, Democrats could have shut down the border, but clearly did not want to. Now with millions in the country, Democrats are calling for “pathways to citizenship” by arguing that there is no way to process so many illegals allowed in under Biden.
In the meantime, the public overwhelmingly favors deportations and elected Trump on his pledge to carry out such removals. Polling shows that 83% of Americans support deportations of immigrants with violent criminal records and roughly half support mass deportation of all undocumented persons.
A new CBS poll shows that, after the first 100 days, 56 percent approve of President Donald Trump’s “program to find and deport immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally.”
National injunctions
To carry out that policy, Trump is seeking to use new expedited systems. For the worst individuals, he has turned to the centuries-old Alien Enemies Act, a little-used act that presents a series of novel, unresolved questions.
Even with this smaller subset of detainees, individual hearings and appeals could make Biden’s decision to allow millions into the country a permanent reality. Many immigrants have been given initial court dates that extend beyond the Trump term.
Trump also pledged to reduce trade barriers for American exports and he is pushing existing laws to the breaking point on tariffs. He is right on the merits.
Even our closest allies impose unfair barriers to our goods and Trump sought to change the status quo with sweeping tariffs issued under his own authority.
Democrats have challenged that authority in various courts and, again, there are good-faith arguments that must be hashed out in court.
It is too early to tell how successful these cases will prove. However, a district court injunction (or even a dozen injunctions) a crisis does not make.
The Supreme Court is about to hear arguments on limiting the use of national injunctions and some of these district court decisions are highly challengeable on appeal.
There is no question that Trump is moving at a lightning speed and the Justice Department has to move at the same pace as the president.
There is also no question that it would better to slow down to avoid some of the unforced errors in the first 100 days.
However, Trump knows that time is of the essence. If he is going to realign the markets and make progress on issues like deportations, he has to put points on the board before the midterm elections. Ronald Reagan lost 26 seats in the House in his first midterm, Bill Clinton lost 54, and Barack Obama lost a breathtaking 63 seats.
The greatest problem for the Justice Department is that the White House and the political team appear to be largely dictating these moves. Political aides see these hills as worth dying on. Even if they lose in court, fighting to remove criminal aliens or to reduce certain foreign aid remains popular with voters.
Don’t alienate judges
The frenzy, however, can come at a cost. That includes alienating justices on the Supreme Court. The resistance to court orders and hyperbolic rhetoric seems to be wearing thin with members like Chief Justice John Roberts.
Trump will need these votes when they really count on big-ticket items like his inherent authority to act in areas ranging from markets to migrants.
Fights over Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia are burning time and effort. If he was simply returned as ordered by a court, Abrego Garcia could be promptly and correctly deported right back to El Salvador. He has no cognizable basis for remaining in the United States.
Richard Carlson, a Bay Area psychotherapist, famously wrote a book titled “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff … and it’s all Small Stuff.” Fights like Garcia are small stuff.
Of course, much of what presidents do is “big stuff” and you have two years to make those things happen. In a curious way, the Trump administration is fortunate to have many of these issues in court early to gain greater finality on the lines of authority. However, it needs to focus on the big stuff . . . and a short calendar.
Jonathan Turley is a law professor at George Washington University and the author of best-selling book “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage.”
How can one criticize the performance of 100 days to correct the intentional damage of 4 years? The sudden acknowledgment that a prior administration was represented by an individual with cognitive disabilities should demand full review of his orders. His own party now state they “had suspicions” but did nothing only to bolster his term. They at least can now tell the American people who actually was running the administration and who was the unelected author of so many questionable signings of them?
Margot,
Great point about fixing four years of Biden’s disaster of a admin. As I have stated previously, it may take years or even a decade to undo all the damage Biden did. Although Trump’s securing the border from the illegals in such short amount of time was not only amazing to see but just shy of a miracle. And Biden and Democrats made outragous claims it was Republicans in Congress who were allowing the illegal invasion. Trump proved them not only that they were wrong but they were incompetent.
The previous 4 years were nothing but deliberate, willful, and calculated moves, not to be confused whatsoever with mistakes, accidents, or sloppiness. They worked against America’s best interests, and the divisive nature of their efforts was a “feature”, not a side-effect. This misuse of the judicial system was all part of their plan to protect and preserve the damage that they’ve caused.
Reading vetween the lines of Jonathan’s article, it seems he has bought into the Federal Courts use as political policy venues. For a Constitutional law professor to uphold this assumption, Turley silently heralds the death of Congress as the policymaking body OF THE PEOPLE. Death by a thousand cuts at the hands of elitist political activists.
The Federal Courts has no business taking up lawsuits mounted by the political losers following an election. Our Chief Justice could instruct District Judges and Clerks to simply steer such policy-seeking plaintiffs across the street to Congress — and by implication, to focus their agenda on winning over public support IN THE NEXT ELECTION.
It’s a disgrace that the losing side’s political activists can hand-pick symbolic plaintiffs — in many cases lacking standing as injured parties — and file lawsuits pretextually as injured parties. Many of these claimed injuries are speculative grievances — which abuse the standard of “imminent harm”. Some plaintiffs are State Attorneys General coalitions, claiming their entire states are about to be harmed.
If conservative jurists and scholars like John Roberts and Jonathan Turley cannot see how the Federal Courts have been turned into a rogue Legislative Body, a place where democratic majority rule can be nullified by political activists and sympathetic activist Judges, we are indeed in a deep Constitutional crisis.
The crisis is one of amnesia — where Articles I, II and II — and how they divvy up the roles of the 3 branches, has faded from national memory. Now, the even key officers who head up these branches no longer pay heed to the roles they are given BY THE PEOPLE who ratified the 1789 Constitutional roadmap. The corruption of that design has but one purpose: for elitist activists to commandeer and wrest the policymaking machinery from the hands of THE PEOPLE.
Back on earth most of these would be dismissed immediately by actual judges.
It is a crisis. Because it’s not just legal arguments. When one side weaponizes the law, has picked judges who will try and stop everything Trump is doing because of their TDS or craving for one party power, and the other party just litigates, eventually the bad guys win. It’s just like with impeachment – the Republicans want to have impeachment mean something whereas the Democrats just want to impeach Trump – and probably anyone who succeeds him if they’re of the same mold.
The Democrats are not just another party,. The leadership’s seeks the same kind of totalitarian power that is gaining traction in Europe. An end of free speech and religion, and their cultural values being forced on us, with our good values – like merit and hard work – being forced out. No thanks.
I know there is a value to having judges being able to restrain the government from doing things it shouldn’t do, but almost any policy can be stretched to the breaking point. The Democrats do that with everything. Now, Republicans must not only win elections, but find a way to get through this warfare. It’s just wrong as was the lawfare to keep Trump out of the presidency and the efforts to find him an insurrectionist, etc.
There are good guys and bad guys, professor. I know you are a good guy. But you are too easy on the bad guys. Being a moderate means you oppose fascism, at least direct yourself against it head on. It doesn’t mean finding everybody’s okay. They are not.
Weird thing, Trump is underwater in the polls on immigration. He’s even worse on the economy. Sadly he’s polling worse than any other president in 80 years at the 100 day mark. Perhaps Turley forgot to mention that. Thought I’d bring it up just in case.
Georgie doing classic projections again. Sees the abysmal polling numbers for the DNC, and his mind warps it into seeing low numbers for DJT. Polls, due process, vaccines, Palestine/Ukraine/LGBBQs, it’s all the same with you; just buzzwords you never actually stood for to push a narrative you internally don’t believe.
-Rabble
In other words, georgie, I’d like you to do a little soul-searching. Take everything that you put on this site, all the vitriol you spout, and ask your inner self a few questions: am I actually benefitting from this? Is following these doctrines really an advantage to myself? Am I leading a charge in new ways, or am I just a sheep in a flock, not caring that the leaders are sending us over a cliff? Am I an individual, or merely following what others believe?
Me personally, I’m in the military, so my free will is definitely lower than yours (I signed those away), however, I am still able to think for myself, and I see benefit in trying, not to turn you to one side or the other, but at least open your eyes to what the other side sees.
Just some food for thought, Georgie. You can be a little open to opposing views, or you can just keep butting heads and convincing no one but yourself.
-Rabble
Thank you for serving our Country and for the sacrifices you and your family have made.
Somewhere, sometime , George has been abused and once that has occurred its impossible to accept truthful evidence.
Just know that. The bucket has a hole…
It’s fine, George.
Wrong.
The polls you cite, or should I say dont cite, you just make wild claims, have been found to be not only wrong but also under sample Republicans and Trump supporters to create a false narrative. They are no more credible than you are.
Prominent pollster blasts colleagues for skewing Trump’s 100 Days approval
“I’m looking at their numbers, and they’re interestingly, about five to seven points off of the rest of us who actually have polled elections correctly,” he said. “And that’s about how far they were wrong in 2024. So it’s like nothing has changed. ”
https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/polling/hold-prominent-pollster-blasts-colleagues-skewing-trumps-100-day-numbers
Hey George, get this bit of news…. LOL
Kilmar Abrego Garcia was accused of being a gang member in 2018 court documents filed by his wife’s ex.
According to the New York Post, Jennifer Vasquez Sura’s ex, Edwin Trejo Ramos, said in a court filing while petitioned for his children’s custody at the time, “She is dating a gang member.”
Could he have cut a deal with Mayorkas as trade for prosecution as an FBI informant? It’s a secret Classified by Mayorkas.
Perhaps George forgot to mention that in the last 80 years, pollsters (with the help of media) have fine-tuned selective wording, suggestion, geographic focus,, herd polling, and pre-poll onslaught of negative stories), to achieve the desired “poll” results. This has been reported on in the past. Thought I’d bring it up just in case.
WAKE UP GEORGE!! Pushing your progressive, liberal, democrat BS is NOT going to work on We The People!! Stop pushing the lies of the liberal media and STOP being a lair yourself! By the way, I’m NOT going to be nice and respectful to a fool such as you. I, and 66% of the nation are DONE with people like you!!
You can tell when MAGA fans are triggered. They start to post and post and post. Trump is losing in the polls. Even Fox News is showing Trump losing approval ratings points.
You know it’s true when Stephen MIller goes on to attack Fox News.
It’s fine George. Get some sunshine today.
The professor quotes the obvious. We knew right from the start the reason for the frenetic pace and why Trump was not going to let up. The Republicans Party has changed and the new people are helping. If we had the same Senate as 10-12 years ago it would be useless. Trump built on his experience from the first term when many of his appointees were just recycled bread from previous administrations and neither had bought into his program or were outright obstructive. He won the votes to slam through HIS people for appointments this time and the race was on.
This is a no holds barred administration. I think the aides at the Pentagon found that out quickly. While Hegseth was trying to get the Pentagon swept clean his aides were staging a pissing contest and staking out their silos and now they’re gone. All 4 of them. I think they forgot who is in charge. We don’t have time for those shenanigans.
Congress is the same way. They sit on their ass and do nothing about trade and build their silos and get rich and suddenly they get together when the President calls their bluff and acts. I think after playing nice with the world, Trump has decided to apply electroshock therapy and the result is magnificent. Most of these things should have been done decades before but nobody cared about our citizens that were being screwed. They were deplorable and invisible.
Hypocrisy runs rampant all through our system. Michelle Obama worries about all those deportions and people of color. I guess she forgot that her husband deported 3 million of them. Now the arrested judge in New Mexico has been banned by the state Supreme Court and the Judge in Wisconsin has been suspended by the Wisconsin Supreme Court. How would I classify those events. A WARNING. Nice to see attorneys fleeing the Justice dept right and left. New Blood necessary to break the logjams and whittle the government down.
Professor Turley tells us that the Democratic Party had mountains of cash but part of the creative destruction of the Federal Government has cut off much of their ill gotten gains and one only wonders what the investigation in Act Blue will find. Besides the Feds have access to more money than the Dems. The Dems are shaken. George Soros and his Mini Me son have come under criticism from Dems, no less.
I rejoice in what we see happening. The government has been sclerotic for decades and the constraints built in to perpetuate the inertia need to go. If the Republicans want to really perpetuate this revolution, scrap the filibuster, and blast through real reform. If you do it right then you might win the midterms. Even if you don’t you will still have 2 years to consolidate and go for the election of 2028. Real reform is rarely a bipartisan effort and I don’t remember anything in the constitution that says reform and bipartisan in the same sentence.
GEB,
Well said and I agree. I truly do enjoy watching Democrats and MSM run about in circles as their credibility, trustworthiness narrative fail. It is even more fun watching them double down on stupid and crazy.
Speaking of stupid and crazy, California Democrats Vote To Keep Biological Male Sex Offenders In Women’s Prisons
“The committee, which includes far-Left Senator Scott Wiener, voted down a proposal from Republican Senator Shannon Grove to protect women from males who are registered sex offenders from being able to be housed in women’s prisons. The bill also would have given women privacy in sleeping arrangements and showers, meaning that they would be protected from males who have taken advantage of California’s lax laws that allow men to be placed in women’s prisons.”
https://www.dailywire.com/news/california-dems-vote-to-keep-male-sex-offenders-in-female-prisons?author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&category=News&elementPosition=1&row=3&rowHeadline=Latest+News&rowType=Vertical+Carousel&title=California+Dems+Vote+To+Keep+Male+Sex+Offenders+In+Female+Prisons
Another bill introduced by a Democrat whackjob in the CA assembly aims to decriminalize welfare fraud under $25,000. Of course that should be read as legalizing welfare fraud up to $24,999.99.
The Assemblywoman doesn’t want to punish fraudsters for what she asserts are simply clerical errors. It would take a lengthy and sustained effort to rack up $25k in fraudulent payments. That’s a lot of clerical errors.
Don’t speak that too loud! Big Tish in New York is looking for more houses to claim!
-Rabble
🤔 its a scheme to allow a welfare recipient to live with someone with a job up to 25 thou; otherwise, the recipient would forfeit welfare. It’s seen as a disincentive to find a job. Cake and eat it, too, at your expense of course without conscience or good faith of course.
It’s a new America and you must pay me because Americans pay for no reason. Where else can you you get such a deal.
They drafted and sent us to Vietnam; they should have deployed us in California.
👏👏👏👏 ENCORE!! ENCORE!! 👏👏👏👏
Oh my GEB, beautifully articulated! I cannot think of anything that President Trump is actually doing that hasn’t been a policy advocated for by a Democrat in the White House and/or in Congress. Foreign and domestic policy over the last 60+ years has effectively turned the planet into addicts of American taxpayer $$$. And politicians in both parties have perfected the craft of speaking in platitudes intended to bait voters into their opium den. President Trump’s America First policies are a shock to that system of dependency. We are what $34 trillion in debt? We cannot afford nor does he have the time to continue supplying the world their drug of choice ($$$) by attempting to slowly ween them off of it. Our country, and others are going to suffer withdrawals from these policies in the short term. But the long term health benefits are in everyone’s best interests. Obstructionists of these policies have one goal, and that is to extend the suffering into the midterms to regain control of the purse.
OLLY,
Good comment and analysis. I agree, there are going to be some short term pain but in the long run we will be better off. Of course short sighted, non-critical thinking, weak minded Democrats will cry, howl and scream the world is ending. Meanwhile, those of us with a degree of intestinal fortitude will batten the hatches and ride out the storm to a calmer, brighter future. We cannot let the fearmongering from the Democrats and MSM rattle us. Keep calm and carry on.
I’m surprised and disappointed that you reference democratic states as opposed to democrat states. Perhaps spell check.
Or, you know, perhaps the actual name of the organization is “Democratic Party,” and “democrat party” is, over 5 decades after the usage was coined by a Republican politician, trite, tired, and tedious.
Its not a slur. It’s not a gotcha. It’s merely a dumb, slightly irritating slogan. Using it does not Strike a Blow for Great Justice or Tell Truth to Power. It just makes you sound like a moron.
Is the California Democratic Party a career club for useless politicians? Duh. It’s a political party. That’s what they’re for. In our system, that’s all they can be, since they have no place in the structure of any of our governments. There are many such organizations, all across the Republic.
None of them, so far as I’m aware, are named “Democrat Party.”
–Shannon
Major Tom to Houston. Houston come in. Major Tom calling Houston…
It’s purposeful in recognition of the Democrats are defunct.
In a nutshell, the Democratic Party has gone off the cliff. They offer no solutions or fair minded ideas to our enormous problems. In fact, they played a large roll in creating this mess.
No ideas? Throw a tantrum like a spoiled three year old child. These are the people who embrace violence and vandalism.
They embraced open borders and they scattered them all over the country and subsided them. They kneecapped the energy sector. They embraced the racist DEI madness. They complacently advocated asymmetric trade agreements that hurt the U.S. citizens.
The Democrats embrace an endless war in Ukraine with no end in sight. The Red Sea was nearly impossible to send shipping. They enabled the Iranians and did little to stem the danger in the Middle East. The list goes on.
These are unhinged and dangerous people.
“ It seems like the Justice Department is battling everywhere on everything at the same time.
It is indeed chaos, but it is not necessarily as random or as reckless as it may seem to the naked eye.”
Turley’s denialism is strong. It wil serve him well when things continue to get worse.
The justice department is busy covering for Trump’s incessant lying and lawbreaking. While Trump may by trying to implement a lot of things at break-neck speed, he’s doing it in the most incompetent way posssible. That’s why Turley kindly calls it “chaos.” He knows it’s a safer bet to ‘kiss the ring’ than to criticize when it comes to Trump.
Trump panicked and attacked Amazon because they were planning on putting on their website how much tariffs would increase the price of goods. It would have shown everyone in the most basic way possible how everyone will be paying for Trump’s tariffs. He didn’t like that one bit. So much so that he called up Bezos and “kindly” reminded him that he can be targeted by the US government, perhaps punishing it for being…unpatriotic.
Ahhh George. Has Amazon ever posted the tariffs imposed by Biden? hmmmm
Because he did have tariffs too
They were not as high or ridiculous as Trump’s current crop of tariffs. Plus Biden’s tariffs were still Trumps previous tariffs. Now that they are significantly higher and more painful for US consumers Amazon should still post how much more they are paying under Trump. Whatever happened to lowering costs?
So, then your answer to Dustoff’s question is:
NO.
Here’s a friendly tip: You don’t have to open your wallet to everything that you scroll past. Do some due diligence. Maybe don’t buy the wagyu, and instead settle for a NY strip. Look at where the products are coming from, and you can save a lot of money by deciding if the price for cheap chinese crap is worth it.
-Rabble
Rabble,
“The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money.
Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. Those were the kind of boots Vimes always bought, and wore until the soles were so thin that he could tell where he was in Ankh-Morpork on a foggy night by the feel of the cobbles.
But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that’d still be keeping his feet dry in ten years’ time, while the poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet.
This was the Captain Samuel Vimes ‘Boots’ theory of socioeconomic unfairness.”
― Terry Pratchett, Men at Arms: The Play
The flip side to that, if you know how to cook, you can buy a 3-5lbs chuck roast for the same price of a single NY strip and that can feed a family of four for two days. A lot of French food is nothing but peasant food with a modern twist. I have taken and old rooster or hen that no longer produces eggs, aka stew birds, with fresh herbs, seasoning, some wine and stock and made a great meal served up with a side of root veggies and homemade pasta. The key is low and slow baking/braising and the fresh herbs.
George posted: The justice department is busy covering for Trump’s incessant lying and lawbreaking.
Let’s take a moment to remember that George couldn’t find those exact same words to point out the TWELVE YEARS that Biden spent working out of the White House, that Democrat president’s Attorney Generals and Justice Departments covered for both Biden lies and Biden White House Crime, LLC.
George claims that he is not only handicapped with deep reading comprehension issues – but he wasn’t aware of a single day of any of that during those twelve years!
But now! NOW George claims expertise in identifying lies and lawbreaking! History and awareness were miraculously given back to George the day Trump was inaugurated for the second time.
This is why George will never be anything other than a pathological liar and Cheap Fake American Communist.
JT misses the “theory of do,” which states that when you have nothing you can do, do what you can do. The Democrats are lost and have resorted to lunatic members taking control of the party and espousing absurd goals. The public is squarely on the side of the President in his immigration policies, border policies, and economic policies, although the anticipated cost of tariffs may have dampened some of the spirit for the latter.
Yes, it may look like chaos, but so does the universe and all its stars and planets until we understand the order that exists in how matter relates to matter. Trump’s plan is to restore the Executive Branch to its rightful role in American governance. To do this, he first must ensure that the other two “co-equal” branches stay in their lane, as the pundits say. While Congress is obedient as long as Republicans are in control, the judiciary branch is more problematic, as it is the only unelected branch.
Trump’s strategy for restoring the Judicial Branch to its rightful role is to ignore it in hopes that it challenges his actions as the Executive. Then he can use the law and the Constitution to force it into compliance. The people are solidly on his side on this issue. Meanwhile, the Democrats are limited in how they can oppose the President, knowing full well that his policies are popular and got him elected and, more importantly, got them unelected. Those Democrats who understand this are flummoxed and left without a viable agenda other than nonsense and absolute chaos.
Occam’s Razor suggests Team Blue should just hold it’s collectivist breath until they get their way.
Why is there never enough focus on “why” the previous administration “elected to leave the southern border effectively open for four years as millions (of illegal immigrants) poured over.” The Biden Administration not only “elected” to leave the southern border open; they flung the gates as wide as they possibly could, installed directional signs, and even provided refreshments and basic sustenance to facilitate the pouring over. The Biden Administration provided both the means and the motive for the greatest “election interference” scheme in the history of government and society. What they did was criminal on all levels. If a politician has not the ability to secure a sufficient number of voters from the very pool of existing and informed citizens he/she desires to lead; when was it permissible to exchange the voting pool? The Biden’s enticed the uninformed, gullible and disparately willing people of another country to break the law and help him swing the vote. Not only did the Biden Administration provide millions of impoverished Mexican’s the opportunity for the commission of an immigration crime, they coaxed them with immediate financial and other benefits; and cajoling them to break laws they would likely never break had they been well informed. Millions of normally law-abiding persons would not suddenly rise up to form caravans of immigration crime if they were not first persuaded by the sweet sound but insincere and illegal urging of the Biden’s administration officials. Imagine for a few moments that scenario playing out in any other another developed country; think about it for even one minute – the insanity of it show itself.
They didn’t “leave the border open”. They were following the law and Turley should know that our immigration system is broken. Rather than fix it. Trump chose to take the lawless route and now he’s whining about the consequences of that poor choice.
Yet Trump was able to shut it down in 100 days. And the American people love it
Alright then, fellow Anon. Instead of just complaining, how would you suggest fixing the border?
Reminder: the Professor said it himself here: border incidents are down 97% with the current admin following existing laws. I’d say that’s a good fix. What else would you recommend?
-Rabble
“Rather than fix it. Trump chose to take the lawless route “
Trump fixed it in 100 days. Amazing isn’t it? He did it so quickly, you didn’t notice.
It’s another major Tom calling Houston.
Don’t try using pop culture to cover up your idiocy. Trump fixed it in 100 days. You are an idiot.
Au contraire! It didn’t take the legislation that Chuck Schumer whined about, it just took a new president 😊
This administration stemmed the flow of illegal aliens drastically and quickly by simply following the rules already on the books. There was no additional laws that needed to be passed to stop this.
If the illegals were sure to vote for Republicans, the Democrats would have put on their Kevlar armor and manned the machine guns.
Their intentions were and are to forever gerrymander to red states to become forever democratic strongholds. There was no altruistic intention.
😂 from the mouths of babes. Yes, that’s right. The democratans wanted more 3rd world people. Why 3rd world? They miscalculated in thinking they needed a humble workforce to do the work they didn’t want to do. The democratans fashion themselves elite.
Great observation, anon
“ I have been critical of a number of legal moves by the Trump administration, including policies that undermine free speech values.”
No, he hasn’t. Come on, professor. Your “criticisms” amount to pithy denunciations and “concerns,” and then add a dollop of criticism of Democrats to soften any harsh words you may have leveled at Trump. We haven’t heard your criticism of Khalil or Oztrurk’s being punished for exercising their First Amendment rights. You just uncomfortably looked away.
“ Trump also pledged to reduce trade barriers for American exports, pushing existing laws to the breaking point on tariffs. He is right on the merits.”
ROFL!
He’s dead wrong on the merits, and Turley knows it. What’s funny is that he doesn’t mention the merits of Trump’s argument because it is literally incoherent. Trump has no idea what he’s doing, and he’s Turned a stable economy into a chaotic mess that created a massive opportunity for China to exploit. We don’t even have any significant leverage.
Trump’s “novel” approaches to immigration involve moving so fast on deportations that he purposefully ignores court orders and denies due process rights to achieve his goals—something Turley avoids talking about. The number of court injunctions is directly proportional to Trump’s willingness to break the law and the lack of congressional Republicans exercising their constitutional duties to check the president’s powers.
Trump is a moron and a horrible negotiator. He’s already squandered whatever leverage we have. He promised lower consumer prices and a booming economy, but here we are, facing shortages of many products and higher prices, layoffs, and recession. All while China comfortably seeks other markets and trading partners, our former allies, ironically further isolating the US and letting Trump wallow in his self-delusions. We, as consumers, will be paying the price. Trump will get to gloat about kicking people out that we may need to support our economy.
“ The frenzy, however, can come at a cost. That includes alienating justices on the Supreme Court. The resistance to court orders and hyperbolic rhetoric seems to be wearing thin with members like Chief Justice John Roberts.”
The problem Professor Turley is that much of this is not hyperbolic rhetoric. It is a clear attempt by the Federal District Courts to stop, slow or impede the Executive Branch from carrying out its core functions. If this type of collusive behavior had happened to other Presidents (including Abraham Lincoln) then I would but the “rhetoric” argument. It was clear during the COVID Government overreach that the Court had NO interest in Executive Branch tyranny on the Citizens. Now however, the Federal Judiciary is all in on total Control of the Executive Branch (for non-citizens….). Whether CJ Roberts is influenced by rhetoric is a testament to the failure of Judges to uphold the Constitution of the United States!
Sorry mistyped a sentence! { If this type of collusive behavior had happened to other Presidents (including Abraham) then I would buy the “hyperbolic rhetoric”}.
I get the method. But as long as Democrats continue to double down on the stupid and crazy, it makes Trump winning all that much easier. Go ahead Democrats. Keep supporting criminal illegals. Keep supporting violating women’s rights. Keep supporting surgical mutilation of children. Keep supporting pornography in elementary school libraries. Keep supporting China, unfair trade deals and off shoring jobs to keep hard working Americans poor. Keep supporting illegals voting in our elections. Keep supporting lawlessness. That is the way to win elections!!! /sarc.
Here is another fun one for Democrats to support, Trump’s energy policy may save U.S. from blackouts like those hitting Spain, Portugal, experts say
https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/energy/trumps-unleashing-american-energy-may-save-us-blackouts-those-hit-spain
You like running water? Internet? Ice? Trains that run? Gas pumps that work? Your debit/credit card at the check out line?
The key word here is “may” which is to say it’s probably a good policy but we don’t know for sure.
Texas seems to be having problems with their grid. They have had problems forever and they are still not 100% whenever their system is right up the limit. When Texas asks it’s residents to conserve enerty to prevent rolling blackouts it’s not a good thing. What happened in Spain and Portugal is not yet known. It could have been a cyber attack, or some unforseen failure that they are sure to learn from.
It’s Texass.
And yet more and more people are leaving failed states like CA for Texas to include many companies.
Outmigration cost California $24B in departed incomes as poorer people move in
“304 companies have left California since January 2019, according to the California Policy Center’s California Book of Exoduses, which tracks corporate exits from California.”
https://justthenews.com/nation/states/center-square/outmigration-cost-california-24b-departed-incomes-poorer-people-move
Escaping from LA and the rest of California
“The latest moving map from U-Haul showed that Californians are fleeing the state plagued by high taxes, mudslides, wildfires, high crime, homelessness, and drought. And they are going anywhere but down the street.”
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/washington-secrets/3281568/escaping-la-and-rest-of-california/?utm_source=referral&utm_medium=offthepress&utm_campaign=home
This is what failed Democrat ran states look like.
@Upstate
Yep, and unfortunately, with all the migration, Texas more and more resembles one of those states. I think Texas is going to flip, personally.
Florida had an influx of New Yorkers. The state is turning redder. A lot of Californians moving to Texas are conservative. So far it looks like the migration made both states redder.
And here is the failing state of NY, driving away even more people and businesses, Fuming NYC businesses warn of exodus over Hochul’s plan to hike payroll taxes to pay for MTA’s massive $68B capital plan
https://nypost.com/2025/04/29/us-news/fuming-nyc-businesses-warn-of-exodus-over-hochuls-plan-to-hike-taxes-to-fund-mta/
#. Via erosion and infringement unaddressed the dems have changed the normative. The sec of treasury has a husband and 2 children. No one knows the baby bag/hag. SCOTUS will approve the baby porn in libraries due to the new normative of same sex marriage.
Sodom and Gomorrah, Robert Bork?
Check the credentials of the SCOTUS. Gorsuch is well educated and has a PhD in philosophy from Oxford. The emphasis was euthanasia and assisted suicide. Elena kagan also well educated with a masters in philosophy from Oxford. Emphasis was the American exclusionary rule for evidence.
The others are literature and history majors. We need some biology majors or MDs or physicists, maybe.
^^^ ketanji should get a biology degree. Start looking at degrees sheesh…
Good class at Yale in biology and its effects on sociology.
Famous line—> I’m not a biologist.
You appear to defend a VERY corrupt Justice system
Trump and his people are rushed to court and in some cases jailed, by totally fraudulent cases
Fani Williams, Russian Hoax, Letitia James, impeachments, Jan 6th, etc
and then NO ONE is punished when ALL the Evidence shows the system is CORRUPT!
I suggest Trump set up a Nuremberg like trial and jail the Democrats by the 1000’s
There is no reason Merchant, Schiff, McCabe, Page, Letitia, Fani, Strzok, Pelosi, Nadler, etc should be walking the streets!
Wow! Jail by the thousands. Anybody everybody you don’t like. Send them all to El Salavador. A truly awesome MAGA wet dream.
Sig heil!
If that’s what it takes to reclaim what we once had as an outstanding nation that good people wanted to come to.
Not everything happens in a split second
Left unsaid total Trump toady Turley supports the descent into authoritarianism. Over turning birth right citirizenship is all but lost cause but Trump wins either way, lots more examples. And wonder if total Trump toady Turley really thinks any of this is a coherently thought out strategy rather than just a vengeful bully lashing out with virtual impunity due to either MAGA legislators who love it or the gutless spineless cowards who do nothing to stop it.
LOL…authoritarianism? You mean like the BIDEN autopen? The importing of millions of illegals from the worst countries on earth?
The jailing of 1000’s of j6 protestors? The jailing of people around Trump for LIES
General Flynn JAILED. Navarro Jailed, Manafort Jailed, papadopoulos jail, with 1000’s of others?
I am all for some GOP autority…and jailing the OBVIOUS criminal Democrats…by the 1000’s
How about the executive orders specifically targeting individual law firms whose only transgression is in Trump’s perception doing something he didn’t like of employing a person who he doesn’t like? You’re OK with that?
Wonder how esteemed justice Aileen Cannon would have reacted to Biden pulling all Trump’s defense team’s security clearances and prohibiting them from entering federal buildings.
If you want to send people to El Salvador the J6 insurrectionists would be on my list. But not legal so they are protected from my whims.
Targeting individual law firms
_______________________
Who were part of the Russia lie and even the Hunter lie.
So, the majority of voters are also supporting your so-called totalitarianism? It’s funny how democrats keep yelling “this is a democracy” – even though it isn’t and has never been, – they sure seem to take embrage when the majority isn’t them.
Restoring the border and removing the last vestiges of multiculturalism is the goal. If you find that returning to our roots discomforts you, perhaps you are residing in the wrong nation and should seek solace somewhere else
#. Citizenship has always been a derivative. People have always applied for naturalized citizen status if neither paren were a citizen. Obama gets his from his mother and Harris gets hers from her naturalized father. Ted Cruz from his mother blah blah…
The challenges to the tariffs are not just by Democrats. Conservatives and libertarians have also brought them, on the basis that the cited authority does not confer on the President the power to raise tariffs. They rely on the major question doctrine, among other things. Their arguments are pretty good.
Where does is say in the constitution the justice department has the authority to downsize fovernment?
Bit of a Freudian slip on march towards totalitarianism?
How many people have government jobs? It’s staggering…
Of the 3 branches the executive dwarfs the others. Why?
“The challenges to the tariffs . . .”
Good point.
And I still don’t understand this: How does congress delegate an authority (tariffs) that the Constitution grants to it, and only to it?
There are several statutes in which Congress has specifically authorised the President to raise tariffs. These generally require investigation, and extensive procedures, before tariffs can be introduced. The IEEPA, on which President Trump is relying, does none of this, and does not even refer to tariffs.
The Congressional Research Service (CRS) says that “in 1971 former President Richard M.
Nixon used the similarly worded Trading with the Enemy Act of 1917 (TWEA), upon which IEEPA was
based, to impose a 10% tariff on all imports into the United States in response to a monetary crisis.”
https://www.congress.gov/crs_external_products/IN/PDF/IN11129/IN11129.15.pdf
Thanks for the reference. The two challenges to Nixon’s action were defeated in cases in one specialised court. There has been a substantial tightening of doctrine regarding how courts interpret legislation since then.
“These generally require investigation, and extensive procedures, before tariffs can be introduced. “
Daniel, I’d hate anyone to mistake your comment for suggesting President Trump acted outside the law. The truth is that U.S. trade laws give the President broad and legitimate authority to impose tariffs in matters involving national security or unfair trade practices. President Trump followed the legal process as required, and when challenged, the courts supported him. The language in these laws was intentionally written in broad terms so the President had room to act based on judgment and strategy. This flexibility has been given to presidents from both parties for decades. Courts don’t usually interfere in these decisions because Congress meant for the President to have the lead role in enforcing trade laws and protecting national interests.
I wouldn’t be so sure. There are statutes that assign to the executive the specific authority to raise tariffs in specific circumstances, including trade imbalances. Unfortunately, IEEPA is not one of them. Not only does it not refer to tariffs, duties or similar terms, but the legislative history of its adoption strongly suggests that it was NOT meant to carry over into the future Nixon’s actions in 1971. These were dealt with in other trade legislation passed in 1974. This is all discussed in an amicus brief by Steven Calabresi in one of the cases.
Nixon claimed the right to regulate commerce under another law. The IEEPA was passed to restrict those rights and didn’t attempt to regulate tariffs. The basis of my claim in my earlier comment was the other trade laws were not impacted by the IEEPA. Trump used sections 232 and 301.
No he didn’t. The Liberation Day tariffs relied on the IEEPA. The procedures required by the other statutes were not followed, and they were not invoked.
You’re right that the Liberation Day tariffs proposal cited IEEPA, but those were never implemented.
The tariffs imposed and litigated on steel and aluminum, and China relied on Sections 232 and 301, not IEEPA, and followed the required procedures. To my knowledge, the other tariffs during Trump’s term also fell under existing trade statutes, not IEEPA. I haven’t seen a case where IEEPA was the operative authority for a tariff that was actually carried out.
I’m always open to looking further if you have something in mind. I value your take on these things.
He didn’t follow the procedures required by those statutes. His authority rests entirely on the IEEPA and it is poorly grounded. We’ll see what the courts say. The briefs against Trump on this are very persuasive, and written in many cases by conservatives.
You are correct, Daniel. I’m sorry. I looked into it further and saw that Sections 232 and 301 only applied to the tariffs from Trump’s first term. For the Liberation Day tariffs, there is a fundamental legal issue. While I can see some arguments in Trump’s favor, the courts will likely move against him, though that outcome is uncertain.
You’re the lawyer, and you were right on this point. If you happen to know, I’d be interested in what legal arguments Trump’s team is advancing. I believe the preliminary injunctions were denied, so it seems the answer won’t be clear for a number of months. Even if Trump loses the next round, he can appeal—and that process could stretch on, likely over a year.
That said, regardless of the outcome, Trump has already made his point. The longer-term impact of the case may be limited, especially if Congress, under Republican leadership, chooses to pass the same tariffs by statute.
At this point, I doubt most countries want to risk a fight with Trump. Maybe China will, but I imagine some deal will be made, driven by both China’s survival instincts and Trump’s political strategy.
Once again, thank you for your patience in providing a legal view of the situation.
They can’t. Delegated powers can’t be further delegated. “All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.” The powers don’t belong to the government and they have no authority to delegate any to another branch. Article I Section 8, enumerated powers – some clauses say ‘To provide for.’ Congress can delegate these powers or duties. The Federal government doesn’t obey the Constitution….they haven’t for a long time.
The question is what does it mean to delegate. Generally, so long as there are standards to guide conduct, Congress can assign to the President or other executive branch officials the power to do various things. Whether any such assignment is so broad or standardless as to amount to an unconstitutional delegation is for the courts to decide.
No. Congress cannot delegate power the Constitution delegated to it, to another branch. The Constitution doesn’t do ‘generally.’ In Article I Section 8 — you know, the place where the Constitution enumerates the delegated powers — some clauses say ‘shall provide for.’ Congress may provide for by delegating to the president. The powers do not belong to the government and they can not delegate them to another branch. The one to whom the powers are delegated doesn’t have the authority to re-delegate them.
Furthermore, the courts are NOT sole and final arbiter on Constitutionality. The Constitution CREATED the federal government. Constitution — creator; government — creature. The creature never has more power than its creator; The creature never has the authority to define its creator.The Constitution is the written compact between the states establishing our federal Constitutional Republic. The states are the parties to this compact; government is the PRODUCT. The product of a compact has no authority to define or change the terms of the compact.
If you want less of something tax it. What do Dems want less of? Votes for Republicans. How do you tax Republican votes? Dilute them. Surrender the national border, bring in millions of nonvoters, and demand due process adjudications to remove each one of the millions back over the border. Meanwhile, press for pathways to citizenship for all of those millions. To vote gratefully Democrat. Jonathon makes a strong point. If you are sitting at the Resolute Desk, getting the issues joined and judicially resolved with an eye on midterms is crucial. It’s Jerry Reed from Smokey and the Bandit picking out “I’ve got a long way to go and a short time to get there”.
The Democrats — and many in the judiciary — are gleefully hastening the day when Ben Franklin’s warning will explode into reality. When the future of the Republic is at risk, none of what is now happening can properly be deemed “small stuff.”
Ben Franklin
“Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are.”
Don’t count on the Supreme Court for anything. Thomas seems to be the only conservative that isn’t compromised. The 3 Trump appointees take turns being the deciding vote against him. RINOS.
Remember, the same thing happened to Reagan.
Alito is right there with him.
I, for one, do not think the Justices should be avowed members of a political party, so good for them
You are wrong Jon. The people are tiring of the judicial insurrection taking place. The inferior courts think they can overthrow Trump’s presidency and the will of the people.
The damage being inflicted upon our nation is by third branch of our government. They were silent when Democrats flooded our nation with illegal alien invaders. Their credibility is fading fast.
The Supreme Court had better get these rouge activists judges under control before our nation is destroyed.
ROGUE! Sorry for ‘yelling.’ I have seen this word misspelled five or six times in the past week. I’m a grammar nazi. Sorry again. Yes…we are so DONE with this judicial tyranny and insurrection. The judicial branch has usurped power, crowned itself sole and final arbiter of Constitutionality, and put itself above the legislature, the executive, and the Constitution itself. The judicial branch is the weakest branch — and the Constitution does not delegate any enforcement power to them.
The president has power to check unconstitutional judicial rulings and orders. Please use that power!
“ROGUE!”
Well, those “judges” do make some of us rouge with anger.