Despite the White House’s repeated attacks on federal Judge James Boasberg, the Trump administration remains confident it will prevail in ongoing litigation about the president’s use of executive power.
Even before President Donald Trump retook office, his advisers expected that his executive orders and other policy moves would face immediate legal challenges. It was expected that those challenges would be filed in districts that were friendly to challengers and would result in initial losses for the administration.
That has been the case. Over 160 lawsuits have been filed against various administration policies, Attorney General Pam Bondi said Wednesday on Fox News. They are often in jurisdictions with mostly or all Democratic-appointed judges such as Boston, Maryland, Seattle and Washington, DC, though that doesn’t guarantee success for the plaintiffs.
But the Trump legal strategy has always been a long game designed to get these questions before the conservative supermajority at the Supreme Court where his lawyers believe Trump will prevail in his expansive use of executive power. A recent string of court losses has not deterred the administration from continuing to pursue this strategy.
While the outcome of these cases can have immediate effects for the people at the center of each controversy, the Trump administration is playing a long game.
The Justice Department is also not going to change its approach despite a rare statement being issued by Chief Justice John Roberts condemning the president, without naming him, for suggesting a federal judge should be impeached. Administration officials believe that statement is about Trump’s social media posts – not the merits of their legal arguments, according to a source.
Trump responded to Roberts’ rebuke in an interview with Fox News Tuesday evening, saying that the chief justice’s comments were not directed at him and continued to attack Boasberg.
“Well, [Roberts] didn’t mention my name in the statement, and I just saw it quickly,” Trump said. “He didn’t mention my name – but many people have called for [Boasberg’s] impeachment, the impeachment of this judge.”
Keep reading here to see how the Trump administration is handling legal challenges to its agenda.
