Donald Trump Completes Turbulent 3 Months In Office

Washington DC:

Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he has had “a lot of fun” in his first hundred days in office during his second term as President. However, much of his agenda in these three months have met considerable resistance in court from federal judges, resulting in a turbulent three months for the President in the White House – almost all of it stemming from his executive orders.

In a mere hundred days the US President has managed to gather more than two-hundred lawsuits, while judges have issued more than 70 rulings against his efforts on a range of issues – some of which include deportations, birthright citizenship, government spending, transgender service in the military, punitive directives against law firms and diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

In the very nascent stage of his second term in the White House, plaintiffs, citing a host of Constitutional violations, aimed to put a blockade on Donald Trump’s initiatives, which he claims will “Make America Great Again”.

IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN

The US Supreme Court on April 19 temporarily barred Donald Trump’s administration from deporting Venezuelan men in immigration custody after their lawyers said they were at imminent risk of removal without the judicial review previously mandated by the justices. The administration has alleged that the Venezuelans are members of the Tren de Aragua criminal gang. Family members and lawyers for the migrants have disputed this.

Three federal judges subsequently criticized the administration’s approach to immigration and temporarily stopped new deportations in their judicial districts under the Alien Enemies Act, a 1798 law historically used only in wartime that Trump invoked as justification to remove certain people without hearings or other legal safeguards.

One of the judges even rebuked the government of attempting to circumvent an order blocking additional deportations and then trying to mislead the court. The case pertained to a Salvadoran man living in Maryland, who the Trump Administration acknowledges was mistakenly deported.

The judges have even questioned the legality of such deportations and have put it on freeze while the courts contemplate on longer-lasting and more comprehensive orders. At least 19 orders have been issued by the courts putting a pause and restricting the Trump administration from carrying out mass deportations.

The administration has won at least nine rulings in cases in which judges have declined to block the government from carrying out immigration raids in places of worship, mothballing an entry app for migrants and sending certain detainees to the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP

On May 15, the US Supreme Court is scheduled to take up arguments over Donald Trump’s bid to enforce his executive order which ends birthright citizenship in America. President Trump’s order had issued orders to government agencies to deny citizenship of those being born in the US but do not have at least one parent who is a US citizen or permanent resident.

Petitioners say that this order is in violation of the United States Constitution and defies the 14th Amendment, which clearly states that anyone born in the United States shall be considered a US Citizen.

TRANSGENDER RIGHTS

Donald Trump has targeted transgender rights by signing executive orders on the very first day of his second term as President. On April 24, the Trump administration sought the US Supreme Court’s approval to implement the order which bans transgender people from serving in the US military.

But this order by the President has faced a steep challenge and the courts have slowed down the targeting and violation of transgender rights. Judges have issued over a dozen orders blocking the military ban as well as Trump’s policies to house inmates in federal prisons corresponding to their birth sex and to restrict gender-transition care for people under age of 19.

DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION PROGRAMS

The Donald Trump administration has hit a roadblock over the President’s order to terminate diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI, programs in the US government. The executive orders have been blocked by at least four judges who are assessing its violation of anti-discrimination laws.

The Trump administration however, argues that the DEI rules are itself discriminatory in nature.

GOVERNMENT SPENDING

The courts have blocked the Trump administration’s moves to freeze trillions of dollars in grants and loans. One such grant which President Trump aimed to stop was the clean energy grant of over $20 billion, while another attempted to stop $11 billion in public health funds. Others included restricting funds to educational institutions for the purpose of research, and even funding medical centres.

TARIFFS AND TRADE WAR

Donald Trump’s tariffs had taken the world by storm, resulting in global markets tumbling upon punitive taxes imposed by the US President. But these moves too have been challenged in courts. At least seven lawsuits have been filed over President Trump’s sweeping tariffs against trading partners.

The lawsuits claim that the US President has overstepped his Constitutional authority by imposing duties without the authorisation of the United States Congress.

TARGETING LAW FIRMS

Donald Trump had placed crushing restrictions on several major law firms, but that was bound to be challenged in court. So far, four judges have put President Trump’s plans on hold with regard to four top law firms in the United States.

Calling Trump’s actions retaliatory, the actions were placed on hold over its violation of the First Amendment, which protects free speech. Donald Trump went after law firms that have represented those who have challenged his orders or policies in court. He has also targeted firms which have hired lawyers who have been involved in prosecutional investigation against him.

In total, US President Donald Trump faces in excess of 200 lawsuits in just the first 100 days in office.

(Inputs from Reuters)