U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley is set to play a top role as the Senate Judiciary Committee chair in hearings next week on courts blocking President Donald Trump’s actions.
Members of Iowa’s congressional delegation also introduced legislation to make English the official language of the nation and to address a shortage of truck drivers.
The Senate Judiciary Committee is set to hold a meeting titled “Rule by District Judges II: Exploring Legislative Solutions to the Bipartisan Problem of Universal Injunctions” Wednesday, April 2, looking at nationwide injunctions on executive actions.
Many of the high-profile actions taken by Trump’s administration have been stopped in court in the months since he took office. On Thursday, a federal appeals court upheld an injunction blocking the use of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport Venezuelan nationals, and a federal district court judge blocked the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Personnel Management and Treasury Department from disclosing “personally identifiable information” on certain parties to Elon Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service in a injunction issued last week. These are among numerous court decisions temporarily stopping the Trump administration from enforcing or enacting measures that challengers have argued in court are unconstitutional or unlawful.
But Grassley and other Republicans say these court actions are an overreach of power.
“District judges’ abuse of nationwide injunctions has hobbled the executive branch and raised serious questions regarding the lower courts’ appropriate jurisdictional realm,” Grassley told Fox News Wednesday.
The Iowa Republican said Congress “must step in and provide clarity” on the judicial branch’s ability to halt executive actions, saying the hearings will “explore legislative solutions to bring the balance of power back in check.”
Grassley also spoke last Tuesday in opposition to a resolution proposed by Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, that would require the federal executive branch to comply with federal court rulings. Grassley proposed amendments to the resolution stating the executive branch only has to comply with “lawful” court rulings, and that added language saying “it is inappropriate for courts of the United States to override legislative or executive action by the elected branches of government because of different policy preferences.”
Without these changes, Grassley argued on the Senate floor that “this resolution demands that the president comply with all court orders, but it’s completely silent about the role of the federal courts to adhere to the law themselves.” He also said he supported congressional action to limit courts’ ability to stop Trump administration policies from taking effect.
“The president of the United States shouldn’t have to ask permission from more than 600 different district judges to manage the executive branch he was elected to lead,” Grassley said. “The practice of sweeping nationwide injunctions, broad restraining orders, and judicial policymaking must end. It’s unconstitutional, it’s anti-democratic and it’s imprudent. If the Supreme Court won’t stop it, then Congress must.”
Durbin had argued immediate action was needed from Congress to support the court’s ability to keep the executive branch in check in light of calls from Trump and others like Musk to impeach judges over decisions. Grassley said Thursday he does not support calls to impeach judges over a decision.
“There has been a lot of debate about when we will cross the threshold into a genuine constitutional crisis. I pray that it will never happen,” Durbin said. “But it will come down to a basic principle. The question is not when we are going to face this, it is that we cannot afford to hold our breath and wait and see if the president will formally announce that he will defy a court order. We must respond to the dangerous attacks on our courts and judges now.”
Robin Opsahl covers the Iowa Legislature and politics for Iowa Capital Dispatch, where this story first appeared.
