House Republicans narrowly passed a sweeping bill full of Donald Trump’s legislative priorities on Thursday.
But, buried in the more that 1000 pages of the legislation was a provision that seeks to restrict the power of federal courts from enforcing contempt citations for violations of injunctions or temporary restraining orders.
Those are the main types of rulings judges across the country have been using to rein in the administration amid a slew of executive orders and blatantly unconstitutional actions by Trump.
“No court of the United States may use appropriated funds to enforce a contempt citation for failure to comply with an injunction or temporary restraining order if no security was given when the injunction or order was issued,” the provision in the bill says, according to Newsweek.
The bill now heads to the Senate after a narrow 215-214 vote in the House. Every House Democrat opposed the legislation. They were joined by Republican Reps. Warren Davidson of Ohio and Thomas Massie of Kentucky. Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., who chairs the conservative House Freedom Caucus, voted ‘present.’Â
If the bill is passed, Erwin Chemerinsky, the dean of the University of California Berkeley School of Law, said it would be a “stunning” restriction on the power of federal courts.
“The Supreme Court has long recognized that the contempt power is integral to the authority of the federal courts,” Chemerinsky wrote in an article for Just Security. “Without the ability to enforce judicial orders, they are rendered mere advisory opinions which parties are free to disregard.”
“There is no way to understand this except as a way to keep the Trump administration from being restrained when it violates the Constitution or otherwise breaks the law,” he added. “The House and the Senate should reject this effort to limit judicial power.”
