President Donald Trump has shown interest in a House GOP bill that would block federal judges from issuing nationwide injunctions, two sources familiar with discussions told Fox News Digital.
Top White House aides communicated to senior Capitol Hill staff this week that ‘the president wants this,’ the sources said. They said the White House felt that time was of the essence in the matter and that Trump wanted Congress to move swiftly.
It comes after various U.S. district court judges issued more than a dozen nationwide orders at least temporarily blocking Trump’s executive orders.
The bill by Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., if it passed Congress and was signed into law, would bar such judges in most cases from blocking Trump policies on a national scale.
Issa’s office did not directly confirm whether the exchange occurred but told Fox News Digital, ‘President Trump knows we need a national solution to this major malfunction in the federal judiciary, and we think we have the momentum to get this done.’
A White House official told Fox News Digital they would not get ahead of the president on legislative matters.
However, the idea has appeared to gain traction in the upper levels of the White House. Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller complained on X twice Thursday about federal district judges having the ability to affect policies for the entire country, though he did not mention Issa’s bill specifically.
‘It takes 5 Supreme Court justices to issue a ruling that affects the whole nation. Yet lone District Court judges assume the authority to unilaterally dictate the policies of the entire executive branch of government,’ Miller posted.
He posted again later, writing, ‘Under what theory of the constitution does a single Marxist judge in San Francisco have the same executive power as the Commander-in-Chief elected by the whole nation to lead the executive branch? No such theory exists. It is merely naked judicial tyranny.’
Issa’s legislation reads, ‘Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no United States district court shall issue any order providing for injunctive relief, except in the case of such an order that is applicable only to limit the actions of a party to the case before such district court with respect to the party seeking injunctive relief from such district court.’
The bill advanced through the House Judiciary Committee earlier this month. Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, told CNN on Wednesday, ‘We think that’s good. We passed it through the committee. We’ll try to look to pass it on the House floor and move it through the process.’
Jordan told Fox News Digital last month he thought Issa’s bill ‘makes sense,’ and the committee would ‘try to move fairly quick on that bill.’ Fox News Digital reached out to the House Judiciary Committee for comment on Trump’s backing of Issa’s bill but did not hear back by press time.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, meanwhile, did not immediately comment on Issa’s bill, but a spokesperson told Fox News Digital he would be holding hearings on the matter.
‘The recent surge of sweeping decisions by district judges merits serious scrutiny. The Senate Judiciary Committee will be closely examining this topic in a hearing and exploring potential legislative solutions in the weeks ahead,’ a spokesperson for the committee said.
However, it comes amid some disagreements among congressional Republicans about how to heed Trump’s call to deal with ‘activist’ judges.
Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, recently introduced a resolution to impeach U.S. District Judge James Boasberg after he ordered a 14-day emergency stop to Trump’s plans to deport suspected Tren De Aragua gang members to El Salvador.
Gill argued that Boasberg abused his power in doing so, and told Fox News Digital this week that he hoped the resolution would go through the regular committee process – something Jordan seemed open to.
Jordan told multiple outlets he would potentially hold hearings on Gill’s resolution, which is a traditional step in the impeachment inquiry process.
Trump posted on Truth Social earlier this week that he wanted Boasberg impeached as well.
However, multiple sources told Fox News Digital that House GOP leaders are more wary of the impeachment route, given the virtual guarantee that such a move would not get the necessary Democrats to pass the Senate.
‘It’s another intense whipping process for something that won’t move at all in the Senate,’ one senior House GOP aide said. ‘I think the White House is trying to find something easier to do.’
House Speaker Mike Johnson’s office told Fox News Digital that he was looking at all available options when reached for comment on House Republicans’ path forward on Thursday morning.
‘Activist judges with political agendas pose a significant threat to the rule of law, equal justice, and the separation of powers. The Speaker looks forward to working with the Judiciary Committee as they review all available options under the Constitution to address this urgent matter,’ a spokesperson for Johnson, R-La., said.
Fox News Digital’s Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.
