President Trump spent a dizzying first week on offense, but this morning he is reminded that the courts and states, including California, where he’ll be today, are willing to test his agenda and his clout.
Just days after Trump used his executive authority to try to end birthright citizenship, a federal judge in Seattle temporarily blocked his efforts Thursday at the request of four Democratic-led states, including California.
U.S. District Court Judge John Coughenour, appointed by former President Reagan, called the president’s order “blatantly unconstitutional,” adding, “I have difficulty understanding how a member of the bar could state unequivocally that is a constitutional order. It boggles my mind.”
Trump told reporters, “Obviously we’ll appeal it.”
The president is set to be in the Golden State today to survey wildfire damage near Los Angeles. Trump also is complaining that California’s Democratic leaders and former President Biden have been “incompetent” in handling natural disasters and immigration policies.
Trump says he may withhold federal funds for fire-ravaged California, adding Wednesday that he’s mulling possible changes at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), part of the Homeland Security Department.
Trump and some Republican lawmakers want to attach strings to any federal recovery assistance shared with California.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), a Trump critic, has been accused by the president of mismanaging his state’s water supply, environmental rules, anti-wildfire forestry practices and border security. Newsom invited Trump to visit the disaster region. The governor said Thursday he’d had no contact from the White House but planned to greet the president’s arrival on the tarmac.
▪ The Hill: Trump faces a pivotal moment with his California trip.
▪ The Guardian: Explainer: Trump revives California water wars as experts warn of turmoil.
Democratic attorneys general from 22 states and two cities, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., this week sued Trump over his executive attempt to reinterpret the Constitution’s 14th Amendment. Trump faces a handful of individual lawsuits over his order questioning whether children born in this country to parents without legal status are U.S. citizens.
Here is what the amendment says: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”
It’s the first major legal battle of Trump’s second term, and opponents of key executive actions this week predict there will be even more court challenges ahead. That bet appears to be part of conservatives’ playbook.
Trump and his allies are eager to kick immigration challenges up to the Supreme Court, where they believe a majority of conservative justices would uphold a reinterpretation of the Framers’ intent when it comes to citizenship. Amending the 14th Amendment legislatively in the current narrowly divided Congress is seen as a near impossibility. It would require two-thirds majorities in the House and Senate and ratification by three-fourths of the states.
“We appreciate and wanted the challenges to this so we can get it into the Supreme Court of the United States,” Rep. Brian Babin (R-Texas) told reporters Thursday while unveiling a House GOP measure that would restrict birthright citizenship. “This thing could take up to three years before it winds up on the high court. Let’s see how they [rule].”
▪ The Hill: FEMA tensions pose an early test for Homeland Security nominee Kristi Noem, governor of South Dakota. She’s on track to be confirmed as early as next week to lead the massive department.
▪ The Hill: Trump’s plans to militarize the southern border take shape.