#Senate #Democrats had been pressuring #GOP colleagues to take this out of the bill…. Not only does this provision appear to violate the constitutional #SeparationOfPowers, it also violates Senate rules. #Republicans are relying on a fast-track #legislative process known as budget #reconciliation to move the bill, which means everything in it must be related to #budget matters. Restricting #judges’ abilities to hand down #contempt orders has nothing to do w/budgets.

Translated, this provision would restrict the ability of any #court, including #SCOTUS, to enforce #compliance with its orders by holding people in #contempt. Contempt citations are an essential tool for the #courts; they allow #judges to threaten #fines, #sanctions or even #jail if people disobey their orders.

The text that Grassley released…doesn’t include this jarring, 1-sentence provision that #House #Republicans buried in their 1,116-page bill:

“No court of the United States may use appropriated funds to enforce a #contempt citation for failure to comply with an injunction or temporary restraining order if no security was given when the injunction or order was issued…, whether issued prior to, on, or subsequent to the date of enactment of this section.”

The proceeding, which has been unfolding in front of Judge James E. #Boasberg, the chief judge in Federal District Court in Washington, was one of the first #deportation cases to reach the courts & remains one of the hardest fought. Judge Boasberg tried to stop the deportation flights carrying the #Venezuelans shortly after they took off, but the admin went ahead anyway, prompting him to threaten #Trump ofcls with #contempt proceedings.

Those were whether #KilmarAbregoGarcia had received #DueProcess when he was plucked off the streets without a warrant & expelled days later to a prison in #ElSalvador, in what even #Trump officials have repeatedly admitted was an error. And, moreover, whether administration officials should be held in #contempt for repeatedly stonewalling a #judge’s effort to get to the bottom of their actions.

Last week, Rep. #MikeFlood (R-NB) admitted during a town hall in his district that he did not know that the bill would limit #judges’ #power to hold people in #contempt for violating court orders. He would not have voted for the measure, he said, if he had realized.

And as lawmakers returned to DC on Tues after their week off, Rep. #MarjorieTaylorGreene (R-GA) said that she had been unaware that the mega-bill she voted for would block states from regulating #AI for a decade.

#Judges use #contempt to bring a party into compliance, usually by ratcheting up measures from #fines to #jail. Once the party complies, the penalties cease.

In 2022, when #Trump was out of office, he was held in contempt & fined $10k by a NY state judge for each day that he failed to produce documents that were subpoenaed in a civil probe of his private business practices that was led by the NYAG. Trump eventually complied after paying $110k.

#FederalCourts have been a major check on #Trump in his second term, as plaintiffs in dozens of cases have gotten judges to block his policies. Bonds were not required in the vast majority of those cases, so if the #House bill provision became #law, #judges would be unable to enforce #contempt orders.

While no judge has issued a contempt order, several federal judges have said Trump admin ofcls appeared to be defying court orders & are at risk of being held in contempt.

“No #court of the United States may enforce a #contempt citation for failure to comply with an injunction or temporary restraining order if no security was given when the injunction or order was issued," the bill says. It applies RETROACTIVELY.

"Security" refers to bonds that may be used in private litigation when one party seeks an injunction….If it turns out the injunction is reversed, the bond helps cover the defendant's losses.

But it rarely happens in cases against the govt.

Under the cover of darkness House Republicans slipped a provision into their budget bill that would, at least temporarily, allow Donald Trump to be the dictator of his wildest dreams.

https://www.ninaillingworth.com/2025/05/22/nina-bytes-reconciliation-and-a-us-enabling-act/

Nina-Bytes: Reconciliation and a US Enabling Act

"In the past I’ve written about the many ways we can observe the Trump administration trying to create a patchwork “Enabling Act” out of emergency powers, novel interpretations of decades-old legislation, and even the resurrection of rarely-invoked war powers to fight a wholly fictitious “invasion” by gangs. With the One Big Beautiful Bill Act in his pocket, the Swine Emperor might finally have the vehicle he needs to fully transform America into a fascist dictatorship. The plain truth here is that the Republican politicians who voted to ram this bill though Congress last night were already would-be thieves and murderers; this provision now makes them the willing architects of Trump’s Pork Reich."

@leahstokes.bsky.social Note For Their King & His Henchmen “No court of the United States may use appropriated funds to enforce a contempt citation for failure to comply with an injunction or temporary restraining order...if no security was given when the injunction or order was issued pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 65(c), whether issued prior to, on, or subsequent to the date of enactment of this section.” Translated: No federal court may enforce a #contempt citation."

It was not immediately clear what #punishment, if any, Judge Murphy intended to mete out against the #Trump admin or those who took part in the operation, but he asked for a list of names so he can notify them that they might all face #criminal #contempt penalties.

As #Flint struggled with #WaterQuality, it also saw an outbreak of #Legionnaires' disease, leading to the #deaths of at least 12 people & sickening dozens more.

Today, the #EPA states 97% of #lead service lines have been replaced, although last year a federal judge held the city of Flint in #contempt over taking too long to replace some remaining lead pipes.