Grassley’s bill banning court injunctions is about politics

There’s one guardrail left to slow or halt President Donald Trump’s attempts to change the country through executive orders. U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley would tear it down.

Federal judges have temporarily blocked several of Trump’s actions, including and order ending birthright citizenship, his ban on transgender military service, his administration’s drive to fire tens of thousands of federal workers.

Americans have gone to court to stop potentially illegal actions by the president. Federal judges have issued temporary injunctions and “universal injunctions,” which stops the enforcement of an executive order across the nation.

Nationwide injunctions serve an important role in making our courts operate more efficiently. Instead of every potential party needing to file individual cases, courts can rule on behalf of similarly affected parties.

Grassley wants to ban universal injunctions, arguing they amount to a judicial veto of the president’s policies. Judicial rulings would be limited to apply to only the parties of a single lawsuit. It would not extend to similar situations, unless a class action suit is filed.

Grassley argues injunctions threaten our system of checks and balances. Never mind that Republican-controlled Congress, which has the power to lawfully approve Trump’s policies or curtail his excesses, is sitting on the sidelines. Trump orders are a direct challenge to congressional authority, speaking of checks and balances.

Creating a legislative ban on injunctions would be a needless and shortsighted correction. In cases where an government action will cause imminent harm, putting an action on hold to provide time to explore its legality makes sense. Injunctions are meant to be temporary.

During a congressional hearing, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, called injunctions an “abuse of power” by judges trying to “overturn” Trump’s election.

“Let me start with a few things. Number one, we love the democracy. The only reason there’s all these injunctions, Sen. Cruz, is because he’s violating the Constitution,” said Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat from Minnesota.

Iowans harmed by the executive orders know it’s largely futile to demand members of our congressional delegation to act or at least wake up. State government is controlled by Trump backers. The courts are the only avenue left to amplify our voices.

Grassley’s motives are political. He didn’t criticize judges who halted executive orders and actions from Democratic presidents. This is the same senator who blocked Barack Obama from nominating a Supreme Court Justice in the last year of his term but had no problem with Trump installing a justice just days before the 2020 election.

This bill is about clearing the road so Trump can put his authoritarian policies in place without court interference. Grassley is sticking with Trump, no matter how many laws the president breaks.

(319) 398-8262; editorial@thegazette.com