Politics
Chuck Grassley Launches Bill To Bar Rogue Judges From Nationwide Injunctions
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) is leading a renewed effort in Congress to rein in the power of federal judges who issue sweeping rulings that apply nationwide—a move Republicans say undermines the Constitution and weakens the executive branch’s authority.
On Monday, the Iowa senator unveiled the Judicial Relief Clarification Act (JRCA), a bill that would ban federal district judges from issuing so-called “universal injunctions,” which block federal policies across the entire country. Grassley, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, described the practice as “an unconstitutional abuse of judicial power.”
“Universal injunctions are an unconstitutional abuse of judicial power,” Grassley told Fox News. “Just this past week, a D.C. district judge issued a universal injunction blocking the president’s executive order requiring voter ID or proof-of-citizenship prior to voting in national elections.”
Grassley said the decision ignores the idea that “judges are not policymakers,” warning, “Allowing them to assume this role is very dangerous.”
His remarks follow an April 24 ruling by Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly in Washington, D.C., who temporarily blocked two key provisions of President Trump’s recent executive order on voter integrity. The order aimed to tighten federal registration requirements by mandating documentary proof of citizenship—such as a passport or birth certificate—and requiring agencies to verify citizenship status before distributing voter registration forms with public aid applications.
The judge ruled that Trump had overreached, writing that he cannot “short-circuit Congress’s deliberative process by executive order.” While certain provisions—like mail-in ballot deadlines and inter-agency data sharing—were allowed to move forward, the ruling marked a legal blow to the administration’s election reform agenda ahead of the 2026 midterms.
Grassley isn’t waiting for the courts to resolve the broader issue. With the Supreme Court scheduled to hear a case on May 15 involving nationwide injunctions related to Trump’s reinterpretation of birthright citizenship, Grassley said the high court “could and should take action.”
“In the meantime, I’m continuing to work with my colleagues to advance my critical Judicial Relief Clarification Act (JRCA) and put an end to universal injunctions,” he said.
The Supreme Court’s upcoming case will revisit precedent from the 1898 decision U.S. v. Wong Kim Ark, which established birthright citizenship for children born on U.S. soil to immigrant parents. Multiple federal judges in states previously issued nationwide injunctions blocking Trump’s revised approach to the 14th Amendment—an approach he argued was intended specifically for descendants of former slaves according to Fox News.
“I happen to agree with some Democrats that in previous years have said some judges have gone way beyond what a judge should do on national injunctions,” Grassley noted. “I hope to find a solution for that, and I hope that you and I could work on that together.”
Grassley first raised alarm in March when Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) pushed for a resolution compelling President Trump to comply with all federal court orders. Grassley shot back: “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.”
While some Republicans had floated using the budget reconciliation process to advance Grassley’s bill through the narrowly divided Senate, that route appears blocked due to the Byrd Rule, which prohibits non-budgetary legislation from being passed under reconciliation.
