White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt lashed out on the White House driveway over the record number of times judges have blocked President Donald Trump in just his first seven weeks in office.
Trump’s “shock and awe” blitz began during his transition and has only escalated since then — producing legal challenges at an equally breakneck clip. U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell ruled against Trump on Thursday in a case about stripping security clearances, while Judge William Alsup ordered Trump to reinstate fired probationary federal employees on Friday.
Those orders are among nearly 50 adverse rulings against Trump’s agenda so far, including at least 15 injunctions.
Leavitt came to the sticks on the driveway to the West Wing Friday morning to speak with reporters, and went off on the Trump administration’s legal woes — as well as Trump’s “nearly 200” criminal indictments:
REPORTER: Court rulings about all the fired probationary workers — you used the same language here just now as in a statement about fighting back against that ruling.Do you mean appealing or something else? And does the administration plan to comply with those orders in the meantime?KAROLINE LEAVITT: Fighting back by appealing, fighting back by using the full weight of the White House Counsel’s Office and our lawyers at the federal government who believe that this injunction is entirely unconstitutional.And it is, for anybody who has a basic understanding of the law.
You cannot have a low-level district court judge filing an injunction to usurp the executive authority of the President of the United States. That is completely absurd!And as the executive of the executive branch, the president has the ability to fire or hire. And you have these lower-level judges who are trying to block this president’s agenda. It’s very clear.And as I just cited, I was appalled by the statistic when I saw it this morning. In three, or in one month, in February, there have been 15 injunctions of this administration and our agenda.In three years under the Biden administration, there were 14 injunctions.So it’s very clear that there are judicial activists throughout our judicial branch who are trying to block this president’s executive authority.We are going to fight back. And as anyone who saw President Trump and his legal team fighting back, they know how to do it. He was indicted nearly 200 times and he’s in the Oval Office now because all of the indictments, all of these injunctions have always been unconstitutional and unfair.They are led by partisan activists who are trying to usurp the will of this president and we’re not going to stand for it. Thanks guys.
Watch above via C-SPAN.