White House says US judges ‘usurping’ Trump’s authority

WASHINGTON: The White House on Wednesday attacked a federal judge who struck down US President Donald Trump´s dramatic deportation of Venezuelan migrants under an obscure wartime law, saying he was usurping executive power.

“It´s very, very clear that this is an activist judge who is trying to usurp the president´s authority,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told a briefing.A US judge said the Trump administration could face consequences if he finds it violated his order temporarily blocking the deportation of hundreds of Venezuelan migrants, even as he gave the government more time to elaborate on the expulsions.

Washington-based US District Judge James Boasberg issued order on Wednesday saying the administration could also invoke the state secrets doctrine, which protects sensitive national security information from being disclosed in civil litigation, and explain why it is doing so rather than provide the details.

The judge cited examples of how Secretary of State Marco Rubio had voluntarily disclosed details of the flights on social media, calling into question whether compliance with the order would jeopardize national security.

President Donald Trump’s administration had said the judge was improperly intruding on presidential discretion to handle sensitive diplomatic and national security matters, the latest escalation in a confrontation between the executive and judicial branches of the US government.

The dispute has prompted concern Trump is further pushing the boundaries of executive power at the expense of the federal judiciary, which under the US Constitution is a co-equal branch of the American government. Trump critics and some legal experts have expressed concern over a potentially looming constitutional crisis if his administration openly defies judicial decisions.

Boasberg did not say what the potential consequences would be if he found the Trump administration violated his weekend order blocking the deportation of hundreds of alleged Venezuelan gang members under an 18th-century law.