U.S. President Donald Trump signs an executive order on gold card visa in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., September 19, 2025. REUTERS/Ken Cedeno
Although the U.S. Supreme Court's 6-3 Republican supermajority has delivered some decisions that were quite favorable to Donald Trump — including Trump v. the United States in 2024 — he is having his share of disappointments in the lower federal courts.
Two of them came on Friday, September 19.
According to Newsweek reporter James Bickerton, "A federal judge in Rhode Island (ruled) the president's executive order on 'gender ideology' can't be applied to National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) grantees. Separately in California, a panel of 9th Circuit judges affirmed the (Trump) Administration must hand over documents related to the firing of federal workers."
Trump and his close allies — including Vice President JD Vance and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi — are claiming that the lower federal courts are failing to respect the powers of the government's executive branch. But legal experts like Lisa Rubin, Joyce White Vance and Barbara McQuade at MSNBC and Kimberly Wehle at the conservative website The Bulwark are countering that federal courts are supposed to play an aggressive role in the United States' system of checks and balances.
"With Republicans controlling both the Senate and House of Representatives," Bickerton observes, "the courts have emerged as one of the main impediments to Trump Administration policy in recent months. The administration has suffered legal defeats on subjects including the imposition of punitive measures against law firms involved in proceedings against Trump, a bid to strip Haitan migrants of legal protection and sanctions on International Criminal Court employees."
In the California decision, the 9th Circuit panel ruled, 2-1, to "affirm a lower court decision demanding the Trump Administration hand over documents related to the firing of thousands of federal workers."
"In April, a coalition of labor groups, non-profits, cities and a Texas county sued the federal government arguing job cuts imposed by Trump were outside his authority according to the Constitution, and also needed Congressional approval," Bickerton notes. "Sweeping layoffs took place across the federal government following Trump's second presidential inauguration in January, spearheaded by the newly created and Elon Musk led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)."
Read the full Newsweek article at this link.