Trump’s Department of Justice is floundering. We knew that Trump and his DOJ were losing a lot of cases in court, but the actual numbers are still shocking. According to Adam Bonica, a professor of political science at Stanford, the administration lost 96% of rulings in federal district courts in the month of May alone.
To put this into perspective, the Department historically wins most of its cases. After all, the government has teams of lawyers available to review every policy pronouncement, order and action to ensure it will withstand legal challenges. The government enjoys a presumption of regularity and good faith. Judges are loath to second-guess government officials and typically defend, rather than criticize, government lawyers.
Those days have ended. In case after case, Department lawyers have advanced outlandish legal theories and been unwilling to answer judges’ questions. The White House has bad-mouthed and threatened federal judges that have ruled against the administration.
And, contrary to the White House’s talking points, it’s not just judges nominated by Democrats that are ruling against the administration. It is Republican appointees — even those nominated by Trump — that are among the harshest critics.
Take, for instance, the court rulings striking down the executive orders targeting Big Law firms. Two of the three cases were decided by…
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