Hawley Announces New Legislation
Senator Josh Hawley has drawn a firm line in the sand—and this time, it’s directed straight at the federal judiciary. On Thursday, the Missouri Republican announced his intention to introduce legislation that would curtail the power of district court judges to issue nationwide injunctions—particularly the kind that have repeatedly blocked the Trump administration from carrying out its executive agenda.
According to Hawley, district judges have issued a record number of national injunctions since Trump returned to office, many of which have halted key policies tied to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Elon Musk’s pet project aimed at slashing bureaucracy and streamlining operations across federal agencies. Among those blocked initiatives: efforts to use the Alien Enemies Act to deport illegal migrants—including known violent offenders—and crackdowns on regulatory overreach that DOGE was created to eliminate.
“This is a dramatic abuse of judicial authority,” Hawley said bluntly in a statement shared on X. “I will introduce legislation to stop this abuse for good.”
I’ll be introducing a bill next week to require this type of request for injunctive relief to go before a three-judge district court, with a direct appeal to SCOTUS
This kind of mischief would be far more difficult to carry out with that legislation in place https://t.co/eDzEXQCALe
— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) March 20, 2025
He later elaborated during an appearance on The Charlie Kirk Show, arguing that district courts were never intended to wield sweeping national power. “Either the Supreme Court needs to intervene and make clear there’s only one court that can issue rules for the whole country—that’s the Supreme Court. And if they won’t do that, Congress needs to legislate.”
The question of judicial authority is now front and center in Washington, as House Republicans pursue articles of impeachment against select federal judges accused of weaponizing their rulings for political ends. Trump himself has endorsed the effort, citing the frequency and intensity of legal roadblocks mounted by judges with a documented hostility toward his administration.
This pushback has not gone unnoticed. Chief Justice John Roberts took the rare step of releasing a public statement defending the appellate review process and warning against what he described as partisan attacks on judicial independence. Yet critics argue that the courts have already crossed the line into partisanship by issuing national rulings from district benches—often at the request of activist groups intent on derailing executive branch authority.
Another day, another judge unilaterally deciding policy for the whole country. This time to benefit foreign gang members If the Supreme Court or Congress doesn’t fix, we’re headed towards a constitutional crisis. Senate Judiciary Cmte taking action
— Chuck Grassley (@ChuckGrassley) March 16, 2025
The legislative side of the effort is moving swiftly. The House Judiciary Committee recently advanced Rep. Darrell Issa’s “No Rogue Rulings Act,” a bill that seeks to amend federal code to limit the scope of injunctive relief that district courts can impose. Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan suggested that the bill could be brought to the House floor in the near term and hinted at additional remedies in the works.
While the impeachment of judges remains unlikely due to the Senate’s current composition—a two-thirds majority is required to remove a federal judge—Hawley’s proposal may find traction as the GOP continues to assert its stance against what it views as judicial activism undermining executive authority.