US House votes to limit judges’ injunction power

WASHINGTON: The US House of Representatives on Thursday passed a bill to limit federal judges´ power to oppose President Donald Trump´s policies with injunctions, after the White House blasted such hurdles.

Largely backed by Republicans with 219 votes in favor and 213 against, the draft law has almost no chance of passing the Senate, where Republicans hold a majority with 53 members, but not the 60 votes needed to overcome a potential filibuster.

Thursday´s bill would prevent district court judges from issuing rulings with nationwide effects, instead restricting their orders to only the parties in the case at hand.

“We are taking on activist rulings and restoring the balance of power,” said Republican Congressman Darrell Issa, who authored the bill. The White House had on Tuesday backed the text, saying that “activist federal courts are weaponizing” injunctions “in an attempt to undermine President Trump´s legitimate powers.”

Many of Trump´s executive orders since he began his second term have been challenged in court, with federal judges often suspending them in the belief that the president has overstepped his bounds -- including at the expense of Congress. On Wednesday, federal judges in Texas and New York temporarily blocked expulsions of foreigners under a wartime law dating back to the 18th century.

The Trump administration has used the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to expel alleged members of a Venezuelan gang without due process. In response to the rulings, the White House has stepped up attacks on the judiciary.

Trump himself called in March for the impeachment of a federal judge who had ordered a halt to a deportation drive -- drawing a rare rebuke from the Supreme Court´s chief justice John Roberts.