Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett tore into Trump’s lawyer, Solicitor General Dean John Sauer, on Thursday after he brushed off a pointed question from Justice Elena Kagan during a heated Supreme Court hearing. Barrett, clearly frustrated, stepped in to demand answers and call out what she saw as blatant disregard for her colleague.
Barrett, appointed by Trump in 2020, sharply challenged Sauer’s response when he seemed to dismiss Kagan’s legal concerns. The clash came during oral arguments over whether federal judges should have the power to issue nationwide injunctions. This decision could determine the future of Trump’s controversial executive order to end birthright citizenship.
When Sauer brushed off Kagan’s question, Barrett immediately stepped in.
“Sir, are you really going to answer Justice Kagan by saying there’s no way to do this expeditiously?” Barrett demanded.
She didn’t stop there. “You resisted Justice Kagan when she said, ‘Could the individual plaintiffs form a class…’ Were a class appropriate for class certification, you can see that it could resolve the question quickly?”
Sauer tried to respond. “Yes, absolutely it could do so. I mean, we obviously dispute that…”
But Barrett wasn’t letting it go. The exchange quickly highlighted a growing rift between the justices as the case touched on more than just the legality of injunctions—it brought Trump’s controversial executive order into the spotlight once again.
Kagan made it clear where she stood on the matter. “I got to tell you that does not fill me with great confidence,” she said to Sauer. “How else are we going to get to the right result here, which is on my assumption that the EO is illegal?”
Sauer quickly shot back, “That would be a profoundly wrong result.”
The argument quickly shifted to the bigger picture: Should one federal judge have the power to block a nationwide policy, or should such decisions be left to the president? Barrett and Kagan both questioned whether Trump’s order was truly legal, with Kagan arguing that nationwide injunctions shouldn’t be thrown out just because of the potential misuse of such power by district judges.
Barrett, 53, has angered many in the MAGA movement this year by breaking ranks with the court’s conservative bloc. Unlike Justice Clarence Thomas and Justice Brett Kavanaugh, she has sided with the liberal justices in several major cases, drawing sharp criticism from the right.
Listen to the exchange below:
BREAKING: In a stunning moment, Donald Trump appointed Justice, Amy Coney Barrett, just ripped to shreds Donald Trump’s attorney over their plans to end birthright citizenship. This is incredible. pic.twitter.com/Kwk9d4MQel
— Democratic Wins Media (@DemocraticWins) May 15, 2025
