Trump-appointed judges obstruct Biden 'pen and phone' policies just months into term

Trump judges stymied Biden administration on parts of COVID relief bill, oil and gas leases and more

Fox News

By Tyler Olson
Photo: Fox News

Judges appointed by former President Trump have stymied President Biden's policies on multiple fronts in the early months of the new administration, taking what experts say is a less "deferential" approach to executive power as judges appointed by past presidents. 

"What you’re seeing is that ‘pen and phone’ initiatives are running into legal trouble right off the bat," Ilya Shapiro, the vice president and director of the libertarian Cato Institute's Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies, told Fox News. "Trump appointed a lot of judges — more than anyone in one term than Jimmy Carter, for whom Congress created 152 new judgeships to fill — and these folks aren’t as deferential to executive power as past Republican-appointed judges might have been." 

It's very early in the new administration with many court cases against other Biden policies yet to be decided – and the decisions against the president could still be overturned by higher courts. But Trump-appointed judges have ruled against the president on immigration, COVID relief, the environment and more. 

Publish : 2021-06-26 19:11:00

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