Photo: Alamy
The Supreme Court of the United States delivered a win for the Trump administration over nationwide injunctions by lower courts.
In a 6-3 ruling, the Court granted a partial stay in Trump v. CASA, Inc., which addressed challenges to his executive order on birthright citizenship. The order declared that children born in the U.S. to undocumented immigrants or those on temporary visas were not entitled to automatic citizenship.
The ruling focused primarily on the procedural question of whether lower courts have the authority to issue universal injunctions that block federal policies nationwide.
The Court’s majority opinion, authored by Justice Amy Coney Barrett, clarified the scope of the decision: “The applications do not raise—and thus we do not address—the question whether the Executive Order violates the Citizenship Clause or Nationality Act. The issue before us is one of remedy: whether, under the Judiciary Act of 1789, federal courts have equitable authority to issue universal injunctions. A universal injunction can be justified only as an exercise of equitable authority, yet Congress has granted federal courts no such power.”
In her opinion, Barrett torched Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson for her argument in favor of nationwide injunctions. “We will not dwell on Justice Jackson’s argument, which is at odds with more than two centuries’ worth of precedent, not to mention the Constitution itself. We observe only this: Justice Jackson decries an imperial Executive while embracing an imperial Judiciary.”
The case stemmed from injunctions issued by district court judges in Maryland, Massachusetts, and Washington state, which halted Trump’s birthright citizenship order nationwide. The Supreme Court agreed in April to review these consolidated cases, focusing on the broader issue of lower court authority.
The ruling, which partially stays the lower court injunctions, allows Trump’s order to potentially take effect in some regions within 30 days, pending further litigation. It impacts over 300 federal lawsuits challenging Trump’s second-term actions, including policies on transgender military service, USAID operations and DOGE oversight. The decision sets a precedent that could reshape how district courts handle executive actions, raising debates about judicial overreach versus executive authority.
President Trump celebrated the news in a Truth Social post. “GIANT WIN in the United States Supreme Court! Even the Birthright Citizenship Hoax has been, indirectly, hit hard. It had to do with the babies of slaves (same year!), not the SCAMMING of our Immigration process. Congratulations to Attorney General Pam Bondi, Solicitor General John Sauer, and the entire DOJ. News Conference at the White House, 11:30 A.M. EST.”
