Donald Trump suffered three major legal losses on Friday, with judges striking down key orders and actions from his administration in a single day.
In Washington, D.C., a federal judge refused to undo her earlier decision that Trump’s takeover of the U.S. Institute of Peace was illegal. Judge Beryl A. Howell made clear the administration failed to prove it could win on appeal after she ruled the firing of the Institute’s board was “null and void.”
At the same time, another federal judge blocked an executive order aimed at punishing the Jenner & Block law firm. The order, which stripped the firm’s employees of security clearances and access to federal buildings, was ruled unconstitutional by Judge John Bates. Bates wrote that the order “seeks to chill legal representation the administration doesn’t like,” violating the Constitution’s separation of powers.
The White House defended Trump’s authority to control security clearances. Deputy Press Secretary Harrison Fields said: “The decision to grant any individual access to this nation’s secrets is a sensitive judgment call entrusted to the President… Reviewing the President’s clearance decisions falls well outside the judiciary’s authority.”
Meanwhile, in Massachusetts, a judge ruled that removing articles from a federal patient-safety resource in response to Trump’s executive order on “gender ideology” broke the First Amendment. Judge Leo T. Sorokin ordered the articles restored, calling the removal “a textbook example of viewpoint discrimination.”
These rulings are the latest in a growing list of legal setbacks for Trump since he returned to the White House in January. Courts have already blocked efforts to deport migrants to third countries, freeze foreign aid, and ban transgender troops from the military.
Trump has responded by criticizing the judges involved, setting the stage for an ongoing battle between his administration and the courts.
