US Court Throws Out Trump’s Lawsuit Against Maryland Judges

A federal judge has tossed out Donald Trump’s wild lawsuit accusing every single federal judge in Maryland of “using and abusing” their powers.

On Tuesday, District Judge Thomas Cullen dismissed the case, calling the attempt to sue an entire court system an unprecedented attack on the judiciary.

“Although some tension between the coordinate branches of government is a hallmark of our constitutional system, this concerted effort by the Executive to smear and impugn individual judges who rule against it is both unprecedented and unfortunate,” Cullen wrote.

He added that throwing out the case was the only choice:

“To hold otherwise would run counter to overwhelming precedent, depart from longstanding constitutional tradition, and offend the rule of law.”

Trump’s administration has been at war with federal judges, especially over his mass deportation agenda in his second term. Maryland courts have repeatedly blocked some of his immigration moves, including orders that sped up deportations without giving migrants a proper hearing.

Instead of appealing those rulings, Trump’s Department of Justice decided in June to sue all 15 judges in the Maryland federal court system, something legal experts called an escalation “six notches higher” in his feud with the judiciary.

The Trump administration said Maryland judges were abusing their power by issuing “automatic injunctions” that temporarily blocked deportations. One order, from Chief Judge George Russell, required a 48-hour pause on removals if a migrant filed a habeas corpus petition.

Russell explained that the pause was needed because Trump’s deportation push had caused “hurried and frustrating hearings” that lacked “clear and concrete” information.

But the Trump administration argued those injunctions were an “unlawful restraint” on the president’s powers.

“Injunctions against the Executive Branch are particularly extraordinary because they interfere with that democratically accountable branch’s exercise of its constitutional powers,” DOJ lawyer Elizabeth Hedges told the court.

Because the lawsuit named all of Maryland’s judges, they hired their own legal team led by conservative attorney Paul Clement. He argued the lawsuit was “no ordinary matter,” pointing out it disrupted the court’s work and even forced Cullen to come from Virginia to preside.

“The executive branch seeks to bring suit in the name of the United States against a coequal branch of government,” Clement said. “There really is no precursor for this suit.”

Despite losing, Trump’s administration has already said it will appeal.

For now, Cullen suggested the White House would have been better off just appealing the specific rulings it didn’t like.

“It would have been more expeditious than, you know, the two months we’ve spent on this,” he told government lawyers.