The problem for him is that his barrage of orders and decisions has collided in front with a wave of litigation and blockages, especially in issues related to the deportation of undocumented immigrants and the strategies of the technological tycoon Elon Musk to reduce the size of the state. It is a tense and loosening that enlivens the debate on the limits of the presidential authority, the abuse of the Judiciary, respect for popular will and even the possibilities of an institutional crisis.
These are some of the obstacles that exist so far for the Trump administration:
1. Judicial resistance: demands and failures block the president’s orders
The main work under Trump’s orders is the judicial blockade. So far the actions of the new government face more than 50 demands – presented by state general prosecutors, unions and organizations – many of which have been endorsed by judges that have obstruct, at least temporarily, the initiatives of the Republican leader.
Some demands overlap. For example, there are at least nine ongoing litigation to challenge the executive order to end citizens by birth right for the children of parents who are in the US irregularly. Four judges already decided to block that measure, the last of which was the federal judge of Boston, who on Thursday 13 considered that Trump’s order goes against the Constitution.
“President Trump may believe that he is above the law, but today’s judicial mandate sends a clear message: he is not a king and cannot rewrite the Constitution with the signing of a pen,” the General Democrats General Prosecutors pronounced of 18 states, when celebrating the judicial decision.
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In addition to immigration measures, the Cortes have pause Trump’s orders on the freezing of subsidies and government loans, the dismissal of federal workers, Musk’s access and their team to sensitive data, among others. Yesterday, a federal judge temporarily blocked Trump’s order to freeze US’s help to the whole world, mainly channeled through the International Development Agency (USAID).
Decrees and measures with legal resistance
- Dozens of judicial orders have stopped, at least temporarily, several objectives of the Trump administration. These are some initiatives that face blockages:
- End automatic citizenship for children born of undocumented immigrants in the US.
- Freeze US foreign aid, mainly channeled through the International Development Agency (USAID).
- Transfer transgender inmates to prisons only for men.
- Freeze up to 3 billion dollars in internal spending.
The White House has signed up directly against the judges, whom he accuses of being causing a constitutional crisis and abusing his power. “This is part of a broader concerted effort of Democratic activists and is nothing more than the continuation of the use of justice as a weapon against President Trump,” said the presidential spokeswoman, Karoline Leavitt.
Not a few American experts and media claim that Trump defies the limits of the law and the scope of his power. The moment could not be better for him, since Congress is controlled by the Republicans, and the Supreme Court – which will have the last word in the cases he wishes to consider – also has a conservative majority.
However, the passage of some cases by the Courts of First Instance to the Courts of Appeal and then to the Supreme Court could take months, says “The New York Times.”
2. Sanctuary cities challenge the measures against irregular immigration
Trump’s immigration policy has also found resistance in some sanctuary cities, as policies are known to protect immigrants in an irregular situation. San Francisco (California) is one of the last to sue the Trump administration.
The Republican, who declared migrants in an irregular situation as a threat to national security, accuses the sanctuary towns of giving “safe shelters to the undocumented to avoid being detected by the forces of the federal order.”
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One of the discord points is that local prison officials release inmates without papers without coordinating first with the customs immigration and control service (ICE).
Given the resistance of some states, mainly Democrats, the federal government took a step forward against the sanctuary cities and sued Chicago and the state of Illinois for intentionally obstructing the powers of the National Executive to regulate immigration. He threatened to do the same with New York, but the New York mayor, Democrat Eric Adams, said he is willing to cooperate with Trump.
Sanctuary cities also demand
- Around a dozen states and hundreds of cities throughout the US are considered “sanctuaries” for undocumented immigrants.
- San Francisco, Santa Clara County (California), Portland (Oregon), New Haven (Connecticut) and King County (Washington) sued the Trump administration for their efforts to get their immigration policies to fulfill.
- Among the Sanctuary states are New York, Illinois, California, Washington, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Oregon.
3. Officials also protest and refuse to fulfill orders
In addition to the legal path, some public agencies employees have resisted under Trump’s orders, even with protests. While their power of action is symbolic and much more limited, they exert pressure against the Government and fell the debate on their measures.
Discontent has also made some Trump provisions not comply with. The Government dismissed this week four workers of the Federal Catastrophic Management Agency (FEMA), including its financial director, after accusing them of avoiding orders and paying “luxury hotels” to host migrants in New York.
4. Possible brakes in the international field
Several of Trump’s proposals on foreign policy are also causing repairs. Although for now the questions have only been expressed in words, if the plans of the Head of State – especially the expansionists – go to action, Washington could be slowed by supranational treaties. In the case of their controversial plan to take control of the Gaza Strip, experts have warned that they could even commit a crime against humanity, according to international law.
Views
“The government is exceeding its power”
María Puerta Riera
American government professor at Valencia College in Orlando
Trump is not trying to disassemble public administration through the dismantling of the federal government, what he seeks is to undermine the power of the Congress to award the resources. You are trying to limit and neutralize the power of the legislative branch to determine the public budget.
For example, eliminating the Agency for International Development (USAID) is not a blow from the financial point of view, but it is a measure that does a lot of damage because it is a way of undermining the separation of powers and, above all, the function of pesos and counterweights. The Legislative Power has no way to limit the abuse of authority of the Executive Power, which is what the Trump administration is doing. The government is exceeding its power.
The Judiciary is the other brake and counterweight that the other two branches have. When the Congress and the Executive exceed, the Judiciary acts to stop the abuses. And that is precisely what happens now.
Trump wants to see how far the judiciary comes, because he knows that the legislative power will not stop it. He not only has a majority in Congress, but he is simply ignoring him and is letting the judges who define how far he can go. His goal is to reach the Supreme Court, where he understands that he has the majority in his favor.
“None of this seems to slow Trump”
Yaser yaser burhum
Peruvian scientist based in San Diego and CEO of Amigocloud Inc.
Undoubtedly, Donald Trump is a polarizing figure that has entered with a shower of executive orders from day one. At the same time, the US is a country with strong institutions that maintain the division of powers, and some judges in the Judiciary are trying to cancel several of these initiatives. If several of these cases reach the Supreme Court, the results are likely to be favorable for Trump, since the highest court is composed of a conservative majority.
However, the current objective of the Democrats seems to be a slowdown of Trump’s measures to have time to look for alternatives to dismantle those initiatives. But none of this seems to slow Trump and its policies to balance the US budget.
What Trump did with USAID is the perfect example. The Government transferred its administration to the State Department and its budget was paralyzed for 90 days while each expense was evaluated. Many organizations outside the US have strongly protested due to financing, but within the country it has been a fairly popular measure. Now a judge temporarily paralyzed Trump’s decision.
It is clear that judicial obstacles are not ideal for Trump’s plans, but so far it is not perceived that it is affecting its speed of execution.