The judicial system in America has completely lost its way, and President Donald Trump's recent battles with activist judges prove it. These black-robed tyrants think they can override the will of both the American people and their duly elected president. This isn't justice; it's a power grab of unprecedented proportions. And I’m sick of it.
The Constitution is crystal clear about who holds executive power. Article II, Section 1 states, "The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America." Yet somehow, we've got district court judges acting like they're running the country from their benches, issuing sweeping nationwide injunctions that paralyze presidential authority.
The latest example? The Court of International Trade recently claimed that President Trump overstepped his authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act when he imposed a 10% flat duty on dozens of countries and slapped tariffs of 25% on Canada and 20% on China and Mexico in response to their role in illegal fentanyl trafficking.
“Last night, the Trump administration faced another example of judicial overreach,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday. “President Trump imposed these tariffs using his full and proper legal authority to address the extraordinary threat to our national security and economy posed by large and persistent annual U.S. goods trade deficits.”
In 2024, the U.S. goods trade deficit exceeded $1 trillion. Leavitt stressed that Trump’s tariffs were not only legal but essential to protect American workers and rebuild domestic manufacturing.
“President Trump correctly believes that America cannot function safely long term if we are unable to scale advanced domestic manufacturing capacity,” she said. “Three judges… brazenly abused their judicial power to usurp the authority of President Trump.”
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The administration argued that Congress, not the courts, had already addressed the legality of these tariffs. After Liberation Day, lawmakers voted down a resolution led by Sen. Rand Paul and Democrats to terminate Trump’s trade actions under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
“Congress firmly rejected an effort… to terminate the president’s reciprocal tariffs,” Leavitt said. “The courts should have no role here.”
The president of the United States also has the authority under the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, a key part of President Kennedy’s economic agenda, which gave the president broad authority to negotiate tariffs and strike trade deals. But the real muscle was Section 232, which lets the president restrict imports if they threaten national security — a tool designed to protect American industry and defense.
Leavitt warned that activist judges are undermining the constitutional powers of the presidency.
“There is a troubling and dangerous trend of unelected judges inserting themselves into the presidential decision-making process,” Leavitt said. “America cannot function if President Trump—or any other president—has their sensitive diplomatic or trade negotiations railroaded by activist judges.”
The tariffs were challenged by a coalition of a dozen states and five small businesses. Thankfully, a federal appeals panel put the lower court’s ruling on hold and gave the challengers until June 5 to respond, but this was still an egregious example of judicial activism.
And it just isn’t stopping.
Every time Trump takes decisive action to protect American citizens, some activist judge steps in with a ruling that defies both common sense and constitutional authority. This isn’t judicial oversight; it’s judicial activism.
Since when did one low-level court judge become kingmaker of national policy? These sweeping nationwide injunctions have turned the judiciary into a farce — where a single, typically handpicked judge in some obscure jurisdiction can override the elected president with nothing more than the bang of a gavel. It’s not just absurd; it’s dangerous.
The same voices now insisting that Trump “can’t” exercise his lawful authority were eerily silent, or worse, cheered, when Joe Biden and Barack Obama exercised the same powers. And that’s the heart of it, isn’t it? This isn’t about principle or proper checks and balances; it’s about politics. It’s about weaponizing the courts to kneecap a president the left despises, while giving a free pass to the ones they like. That’s not oversight; it’s a partisan power grab in a black robe.
The Founding Fathers would be appalled at this judicial overreach. They created three co-equal branches of government — not a judicial oligarchy where unelected judges can override the president's lawful authority at will. What we're seeing now is nothing short of a constitutional crisis.
The American people elected Trump to lead this nation and make the tough decisions necessary to keep us safe and prosperous. If these activist judges want to make policy, they should run for office. Until then, they need to stay in their lane and stop undermining the constitutional authority of the president.
