July 16, 2025
DC judges let Chief Justice Roberts know that Donald Trump is a bad dude
By Andrea Widburg
The Federal District Court for the District of Columbia has been a safe haven for Democrats, with the justices there willing repeatedly to favor plaintiffs who have filed suits against the Trump administration. Margot Cleveland obtained a memo from a federal judicial conference held this past March showing that the DC judges are actively hostile to Donald Trump and want to ensure the Supreme Court shares that hostility. This behavior crashes into the federal canons governing judges, as well as into the reality of Trump’s conduct.
Before Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025, the DC District Court had already garnered a reputation for hostility to the Trump side of the aisle thanks to Jamaica-born Judge Tanya S. Chutkan. It was she who dealt exceptionally harshly with people arrested for events on January 6, 2021, going so far as to continue to attack people orally even after Donald Trump had pardoned them.
Since Trump entered office, the DC judges’ rulings resulted in headline after headline for their track record of siding with plaintiffs in actions against the Trump administration:
Judge Carl J. Nichols: Issued a temporary restraining order halting the administration’s attempt to place ~2,200 USAID employees on administrative leave, including recalling staff overseas.
Judge Deborah Boardman: Became the first to impose a nationwide preliminary injunction blocking Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship for children born to undocumented residents. The Supreme Court has stayed the nationwide injunction, while the constitutional question remains to be resolved.
Judge Adam B. Abelson: Granted a preliminary injunction blocking three key provisions of Trump’s early executive orders restricting DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) programs in federal contracts and grants. The Fourth Circuit stayed his injunction, pending appeal.
Judge Amy Berman Jackson: Issued a temporary restraining order and then a permanent injunction in Bessent v. Dellinger, preventing the Trump Administration from firing the independent Special Counsel without cause. The D.C. Circuit stayed her injunction pending appeal.
Chief Judge James E. Boasberg: Approved a temporary restraining order in J.G.G. v. Trump, blocking mass deportations of Venezuelan detainees under the Alien Enemies Act. Extended it multiple times and found probable cause for contempt after deportations proceeded contrary to court orders. The various superior courts have slapped these orders around excessively.
Judge Royce Lamberth: Blocked enforcement of Trump’s executive order restricting hormone therapy for incarcerated transgender people in BOP facilities.
Judge Beryl Howell: Ruled that Trump’s removal of NLRB member Gwynne Wilcox was illegal under federal labor law.
Judge Richard Leon: Declared Trump’s executive order targeting law firm WilmerHale unconstitutional, reaffirming separation of powers.
Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly: Issued a 120‑page ruling partially blocking Trump’s executive order requiring citizenship proof for voter registration, stating election regulation is Congress/state prerogative.
Those who suspected that the judges might be biased weren’t imagining it. Margot Cleveland writes that, in the second week of March, members of the Judicial Conference had one of their two regular annual meetings, during which the members decide upon official policy for the federal courts. Attending each conference are the Supreme Court Chief Justice (that would be Roberts), the chief judge and one district judge from each of the appellate districts, and the chief judge for the Court of International Trade.
more
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2025/07/dc_judges_let_chief_justice_roberts_know_that_donald_trump_is_a_bad_dude.html
