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The Combination of Trump Judges and the Trump DOJ Spells Double Trouble For Our Rights

Lady justice and a gavel

Even before Donald Trump nominates any more federal judges, those already on the bench have seriously harmed our rights and liberties, as well as public health and safety. As of January 2025, the situation is becoming even worse due to Trump’s control of the federal Department of Justice.

 

DOJ and Lower Courts Before Trump II

During the Biden and Obama administrations, America could count on DOJ to work on protecting individual rights and public health and welfare, even when Trump judges ruled the other way. The most infamous example was the ruling by Trump judge  Matthew Kacsmaryk, who issued a nationwide order from his district court seat in Amarillo that would have effectively banned the abortion pill mifepristone. The Justice Department promptly appealed the decision on behalf of the FDA, and the Supreme Court threw out(link is external) Kacsmaryk’s ruling on procedural grounds, preserving access to mifepristone at least for now.

 

We’ve seen many other examples as well. For instance, DOJ vigorously appealed a ruling by Trump judge Drew Tipton, who blocked the Biden Administration from pursuing an immigration policy that prioritized enforcement action against immigrants threatening public safety or national security. The Supreme Court upheld DOJ’s view 8-1. 

 

Trump Judges and Trump DOJ Spell Double Trouble

In the short time since the 2024 election, however, we have already seen troubling signs of Trump judges and the Trump DOJ working in tandem to harm our rights. Start with Kacsmaryk and the abortion pill again. In late 2024, the states of Missouri, Idaho and Kansas filed suit to invalidate FDA rules important to providing access to the pill, such as a rule authorizing telehealth prescriptions. Rather than filing their challenge in one of their states or in Washington, however, the states tried to get the case in front of Kacsmaryk by filing it as an amendment to the earlier case before him. The Justice Department, then under Biden, argued the lawsuit should not be allowed to continue in front of Kacsmaryk.

 

In January 2025, however, Kacsmaryk granted the states’ motion to file an amended complaint before him and stated that Justice must file a new motion to dismiss the amended complaint if the case is to be quashed. The Biden Justice Department would surely have done precisely that. But no such action has occurred under Trump so far, and it is all too likely that the Trump DOJ will not oppose the attempted restriction on the abortion pill. Action by a Trump judge, and inaction by the Trump DOJ, threatens to produce a double whammy on reproductive rights. 

 

Trump district judge J. Campbell Barker provides another example. In mid-January 2025 he issued a nationwide injunction that blocks the FDA from enforcing a rule requiring graphic warning labels that show the serious health risks of smoking, such as fatal lung disease, specific types of cancer, and stunted fetal growth during pregnancy. When Barker had earlier stopped the labels on other grounds, the Biden Justice Department appealed and won reversal of that order. No official word yet, but action by the Trump DOJ is considered unlikely. Once again, action by a Trump judge, and inaction by the Trump DOJ, threatens a double whammy, this time on health and safety.

 

Now What?

Although our options are limited, there are important steps we can take. We must publicize the double trouble being created Trump judges and the Trump DOJ on issues across the country. We should praise Biden and other judges who remain on the federal bench and take action to try to stop this harm. And we must take action to help challenge in the courts the dangers caused by Trump judges and the Trump DOj to our rights, health and safety, even if the Trump DOJ will not.