Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett has led a conservative push to help Donald Trump curtail judges who have hampered his agenda, in a major victory for the U.S. president.
In a highly anticipated ruling on Friday, the Supreme Court has limited the ability of federal lower courts to temporarily pause Trump’s executive orders using nationwide injunctions.
The 6-3 ruling, written by Coney Barrett, stemmed from Trump’s push to end birthright citizenship, which dictates that everyone born in the U.S. is a citizen, regardless of their parents’ immigration status.
But the decision could have much broader implications, as Trump has long claimed that the courts are overstepping their authority by handing down nationwide orders that have temporarily blocked some of his policies.
“GIANT WIN in the United States Supreme Court!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“Even the Birthright Citizenship Hoax has been, indirectly, hit hard. It had to do with the babies of slaves (same year!), not the SCAMMING of our Immigration process. Congratulations to Attorney General Pam Bondi, Solicitor General John Sauer, and the entire DOJ.“
The ruling did not go so far as to make a decision on the constitutionality of Trump’s push to end birthright citizenship.
But is has nonetheless thrilled Trump, who has privately lashed out at conservative Supreme Court justices for not consistently backing his agenda, taking particular aim at Coney Barrett, his most recent appointee.
In her opinion, Coney Barrett wrote: “Some say that the universal injunction ‘give[s] the Judiciary a powerful tool to check the Executive Branch.’ … But federal courts do not exercise general oversight of the Executive Branch; they resolve cases and controversies consistent with the authority Congress has given them. When a court concludes that the Executive Branch has acted unlawfully, the answer is not for the court to exceed its power, too.”
The three liberal justices on the court – Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Justice Elena Kagan and Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson – dissented and have hit out at the ruling.
Describing the decision as “a travesty for the rule of law,” Sotomayor suggested that Trump knew his birthright citizenship order was unconstitutional, and therefore pursued the issue of universal injunctions instead.
“The gamesmanship in this request is apparent, and the Government makes no attempt to hide it. Yet, shamefully, this Court plays along,” she said.
The ruling comes after lower courts have repeatedly rejected Trump’s efforts to end birthright citizenship, citing the 14th Amendment and over a century of legal precedent.
Other parts of Trump’s agenda have also been blocked in the courts, such as his deportation plans, including the use of the Alien Enemies Act to get rid of undocumented migrants.
This had led to the White House and MAGA Republicans accusing the judges involved of political bias and judicial overreach.
“We cannot allow a handful of communist radical-left judges to obstruct the enforcement of our laws and assume the duties that belong solely to the president of the United States,” Trump told supporters late last month.
Coney Barrett, who was appointed by Trump in 2020, has also faced criticism from MAGA world. In March, for example, Barrett voted to reject Trump’s attempt to freeze nearly $2 billion in foreign aid, prompting legal commentator Mike Davis to declare on Steve Bannon’s podcast: “She’s a rattled law professor with her head up her ass.”
And earlier in January, she sided with Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, a fellow conservative, and the liberal justices of the court to allow Trump to be sentenced in his so-called “hush money” trial.
However, Trump allies praised her opinion on Friday.
“This is a massive win for the Trump administration, the rule of law, and the will of American voters,” wrote conservative activist Charlie Kirk. “This speeds EVERYTHING up.”
