Encouraging U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to take “strong action,” Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, applauded the Trump administration’s efforts at beating back judicial overreach in the wake of dozens of preliminary injunctions and temporary restraining orders issued against President Donald Trump.
Grassley sent a letter to Bondi on Friday in support of a Trump memo dated March 6 that directed federal agencies to enforce Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 65(c), which requires plaintiffs to post security — financial guarantee — equal to the federal government’s potential costs in fighting lawsuits that might be "later found unjustified."
In his letter to Bondi, Grassley wrote, “courts now regularly ignore this law without consideration.”
“Over the last few months, I have watched with concern as individual district judges have issued sweeping injunctions that reach far beyond the case or controversy before them. These orders are often issued as preliminary injunctions or temporary restraining orders on an expedited basis with limited hearings,” Grassley wrote.
He added, “Simply put, such judicial overreach not only violates the separation of powers, but it also silences the American people, who overwhelmingly voted for the change that the President is trying to deliver.”
Grassley cited research by the Harvard Law Review that found of the 96 nationwide injunctions spanning four presidencies from 2001-23, two-thirds “targeted Trump during his first four years in office.” In just two months this time, “dozens of orders” and more than 100 pending lawsuits have been slapped against the administration.
Grassley cited three examples, including the order of a "single D.C. district judge enjoining the federal funding freeze and requiring United States Agency for International Development to disburse $2 billion within 36 hours of his order."
“The courts should have been imposing injunction bonds on their own, but because they have failed to so, President Trump is right to demand that the Justice Department remind the courts of their obligations under the Federal Rules. I ask you to diligently carry out President Trump’s orders and uphold the rule of law and the integrity of our judicial system,” Grassley wrote.
He added, “I will be working to solve the problem of judicial overreach, and in the meantime, commend the Administration’s efforts to enforce existing law.”
Grassley implored Bondi in a handwritten message to “please take strong action” during this “very important time for us!”