These 8 Trump-appointed judges have accused him of 'blatantly violating the law': analysis

U.S. President Donald Trump reacts in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., September 19, 2025. REUTERS/Ken Cedeno

President Donald Trump's administration has argued that its policies are being stymied in the courts by Democratic-appointed judges, but one new analysis shows that multiple Republican judges – including some appointed by Trump himself — have been a consistent thorn in his side.

CNN's Aaron Blake documented Monday how, just eight months into Trump's second term, eight of his own judges have had their names attached to rulings striking down some of his most controversial policies. According to Blake, U.S. District Judges Karen Immergut, Thomas Cullen, Timothy J. Kelly, Fernando Rodriguez Jr., Stephanie Gallagher, Trevor N. McFadden, Mary S. McElroy and U.S. Court of International Trade Judge Timothy Reif have all ruled against him just in the past year alone.

"To date, GOP-appointed judges have ruled against the administration in more than a dozen high-profile cases," Blake wrote. "They’ve also often used strong language that suggested Trump and his administration were blatantly violating the law."

One of the more notable cases in which Republican judges directly ruled against Trump pertained to his tariffs. Judge Reif, who Trump appointed to his role in 2019, ruled in conjunction with Ronald Reagan-appointed Judge Jane Restani that Trump illegally claimed emergency powers under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to unilaterally impose tariffs in April.

"[The IEEPa] does not authorize any of the worldwide, retaliatory, or trafficking tariff orders," the ruling read. "The worldwide and retaliatory tariff orders exceed any authority granted to the President by IEEPA to regulate importation by means of tariffs."

Trump has also had some of his more stringent immigration policies held up by his own judges. Judge Rodriguez Jr., who Trump nominated in 2018, ruled in May that Trump lacked the authority to deport immigrants to El Salvador's notorious CECOT mega-prison under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. Judge Gallagher came to a similar conclusion in her own ruling in April. And other Republican appointees have joined in: U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Leslie H. Southwick (appointed by George W. Bush) struck down the Trump administration's attempt to appeal the Alien Enemies Act ruling as part of a 2-1 panel decision.

"A country’s encouraging its residents and citizens to enter this country illegally is not the modern-day equivalent of sending an armed, organized force to occupy, to disrupt or to otherwise harm the United States," Southwick wrote on behalf of the panel.

Click here to read Blake's full analysis in CNN.

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