Senator John Kennedy is a Republican from Louisiana, since 2017. He was formerly a Democrat and is now the biggest thorn in the side of the Left. Kennedy’s hearing below zeroed in on the explosion of universal injunctions—27 across the 20th century, but 86 in Trump’s first term and 30 in his second by March 2025—as a clear sign of legal warfare against his administration. The point? Federal judges don’t have standing to rule over the whole country, just the plaintiffs before them. Kennedy argued these nationwide blocks, hitting policies like immigration or DEI changes, are judicial overreach, not justice.
ennedyFederal district judges technically only have standing—legal authority—to rule for the plaintiffs in their courtroom, not the entire country. Under Article III of the Constitution, federal courts resolve “cases” or “controversies” brought by specific parties with a direct stake. A judge’s ruling should remedy those plaintiffs’ injuries, not automatically extend nationwide. Universal injunctions stretch this, halting policies everywhere based on one case—say, a single plaintiff in Texas challenging a federal rule.
In practice, though, courts have long blurred this line. The Supreme Court hasn’t explicitly banned universal injunctions, and cases like Trump v. Hawaii (2018) show they’ll sometimes tolerate them if the policy’s uniform harm justifies it. Critics, including Kennedy, argue this lets district judges—whose jurisdiction is geographically limited—act like national policymakers, exceeding their constitutional role. Defenders say it’s necessary when a policy’s illegal nationwide, not just for one person. So, while judges’ standing is tied to plaintiffs, precedent and pragmatism have fueled this broader reach—exactly what Kennedy’s hearing called out as overreach against Trump.
Historically, injunctions were rare—under three a year. Trump’s hit with dozens, mostly from Democratic-appointed judges, showing a pattern of targeted attacks. The hearing exposed how plaintiffs cherry-pick courts to score broad rulings, like the 92.2% success rate in Trump’s first term, stalling his agenda from coast to coast. Kennedy’s fix—treat these like class actions, limiting relief to specific groups, not the nation—aims to stop judges from playing dictator. This lawfare jams up Trump’s governance, forcing endless appeals while unelected robes meddle beyond their lane. The takeaway: district judges should stick to their plaintiffs, not hijack the country’s steering wheel.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 1, 2025
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