Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) blasted judges using their positions to block President Donald Trump’s executive orders on a national scale, an issue that has been the subject of debate since the president took office.
Democrats have been waging a full-on lawfare campaign against the Trump administration, now that they no longer control either chamber of Congress. They have filed a barrage of lawsuits challenging his policies related to immigration, the economy, and streamlining the federal government’s operations by laying off thousands of workers.
During a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing titled “The Supposedly ‘Least Dangerous Branch’: District Judges v. Trump,” Sen. Cruz warned that the US is facing a “constitutional crisis—a full-blown judicial assault on the separation of powers.”
Cruz pointed out that unelected district judges are abusing their authority by issuing sweeping nationwide injunctions against the president’s policies. “What we’re witnessing is the rise of judicial lawfare from the bench,” Cruz said.
He argued that these judges were “confirmed not to legislate, not to govern, but to apply the law.” Yet, federal judges have become political actors intent on hampering President Trump’s agenda, according to Cruz.
What we’re witnessing is the rise of judicial lawfare from the bench. One unelected district judge—sitting in a courtroom in San Francisco or Boston or Baltimore—can now issue a nationwide injunction that ties the hands of the President of the United States. That’s not law. That’s judicial tyranny.
🔥HOLY SMOKES: @tedcruz just TORCHED Democrat hypocrites for their two-faced virtue signaling about the judicial coup targeting President Trump!
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) June 3, 2025
"The number of nationwide injunctions issued in the first four months is greater than the entire 20th century, and is greater than all… pic.twitter.com/iJW9m8813d
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Sen. Cruz laid out a series of recent cases in which federal judges blocked the implementation of his policies on a national level. He referred to a Maryland judge’s order issuing a “standing order preventing the removal of illegal aliens—granting two days of automatic protection to anyone who files a habeas petition.”
He added: “No merits review, no hearing—just judicial amnesty.”
The lawmaker brought up a Washington, DC, judge’s ruling barring the government from “requiring proof of citizenship to vote—overriding election integrity laws across all 50 states.”
Cruz brought up a San Francisco judge’s ruling that required the White Houose to “rehire all terminated federal workers and restricted future firings—effectively turning the judiciary into an HR department.”
The lawmaker also pointed out that since Trump took office in January, “over 40 universal injunctions have been issued against the federal government.”
“That’s in just four months,” Cruz continued. “And 35 of those came from the same five judicial districts.”
The senator argued that “In the first 150 years of the Republic, not a single nationwide injunction was issued” and that only 27 were issued in the 20th century. “Under Presidents Bush, Obama, and Biden, just 32.”
“This is not normal. This is not justice. This is an orchestrated campaign of judicial obstruction—a deliberate attempt to sabotage a duly elected President,” Cruz said.
Cruz further highlighted the fact that judges are appointed to lifetime terms without having to worry about consequences at the ballot box.
And here’s what makes this all the more dangerous—when a President exceeds his authority, the voters can choose a new President after four years. When Congress goes too far, the people can vote them out. But judges? Judges are unelected. They serve for life. And when they impose their politics from the bench, there is no democratic check. No accountability.
The lawmaker asserted that “We cannot allow a single district judge to wield more power than the President, Congress, and 340 million citizens combined.” He ended by exhorting lawmakers to "restore the Constitution" and "stop letting one judge rule America."
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