00:00and Scanlon and all the members of the subcommittees for allowing me to testify.
00:04There is clearly a potential constitutional crisis involving the judicial branch's effort
00:10to fully override the legislative and executive branches.
00:13Fifteen district judges effectively seized control of various executive branch duties
00:18in the first six weeks of the current presidency through nationwide injunctions.
00:23This is potentially a judicial coup d'etat.
00:26It clearly violates the Constitution and more than 200 years of American history.
00:31To set the stage for this hearing, let me mention 12 former federal judges appointed
00:36by President John Adams.
00:38Richard Bassett, Egbert Benson, Benjamin Born, William Griffith, Samuel Hitchcock, Philip
00:44Barton Kaye, Jeremiah Smith, George Keith Taylor, Oliver Wilcott Jr., Williams McClung,
00:50Charles McGill, and Williams Tillman.
00:54President Adams appointed these federal judges on his way out of office to hamstring the
01:00incoming President Thomas Jefferson's agenda.
01:03President Jefferson concluded that impeaching the judges would take too much time.
01:07He and the Congress simply abolished the courts in which they served via the Judiciary Act
01:13of 1802.
01:14This is a constitutional balance of power.
01:17The legislative and executive branches can reshape the judiciary branch.
01:21It is a useful reminder in considering the current situation.
01:25Unelected lower court judges have been steadily grabbing power for years.
01:29It was such an obvious threat that in 2012, Vince Haley and I wrote, Bringing the Court
01:33Back Under the Constitution.
01:35It is an historic study, which I am submitting for the record.
01:39According to Harvard Law Review, there were 96 nationwide injunctions ordered by district
01:44courts from 2001 to 2023.
01:48Two-thirds of them, 64, were issued during President's time in office.
01:52Furthermore, 92% of the injunctions against President Trump were issued by judges appointed
01:57by Democratic presidents.
01:59Since January 20, 2025, lower courts have imposed 15 nationwide injunctions against
02:05the current Trump administration.
02:07This is compared to 6 during George W. Bush's 8 years, 12 during Barack Obama's 8 years,
02:13and 14 during Joe Biden's 4-year term.
02:16The notion that unelected lawyers can micromanage the executive branch and override a commander-in-chief
02:22who received 77.3 million votes should trouble every American.
02:28This is particularly troubling for issues of national defense and public safety.
02:32Around 500 B.C., Sun Tzu asserted in The Art of War that, quote, speed is the essence of
02:37war.
02:38How can the United States have speed in national security issues if opponents can judge shop
02:43to find someone ambitious or arrogant enough to block, repudiate, or delay the president's
02:48decisions?
02:49There are 677 authorized district judgeships.
02:53How many think they can override duly elected presidents?
02:57This summary statement has four propositions.
02:59First, the courts have often been challenged.
03:02President Jefferson wrote, quote, judges as the ultimate arbiters of all constitutional
03:06questions would place us under the despotism of an oligarchy, close quote.
03:11President Andrew Jackson was in constant fights with the Supreme Court.
03:15President Abraham Lincoln made the Dred Scott decision expanding slavery, a centerpiece
03:19of his 1858 senatorial campaign.
03:22In his first inaugural, President Lincoln warned that if the Supreme Court held supreme
03:25rule, quote, the people will have ceased to be their own rulers, having to that extent
03:30practically resigned their government into the hands of that eminent tribunal, close
03:34quote.
03:35Second, as the Judiciary Act of 1802 proves, the legislative and executive branches can
03:42constitutionally defend their rights, and they have in the past.
03:45It is historically and constitutionally wrong to think the legislative and executive branches
03:50are helpless against judiciary actions.
03:53Third, the Supreme Court could intervene to eliminate this attack on the executive branch
03:58by district judges.
03:59Chief Justice Roberts could end the growing confrontation by establishing a rule that
04:04any nationwide injunction issued by a district court against the executive branch would be
04:09suspended in implementation and immediately taken up by the Supreme Court.
04:13This would remedy the lengthy appeals process.
04:15Fourth, the Congress and the President can take decisive steps toward bringing the judiciary
04:20back into a constitutional framework.
04:23This hearing is a good first step.
04:24There could be a series of hearings on the constitutional and historic framework, which
04:29ensures no single branch of government can acquire dictatorial powers, specifically the
04:34judiciary in this committee.
04:36These hearings would educate the members and the American people.
04:39They would create a national understanding of the need to defend the Constitution against
04:42overreaching branches of government.
04:44I would also recommend that the Congress pass Chairman Issa's No Rogue Rulings Act, which
04:50is a good signal to the courts that they have gone too far.
04:53Thank you, and I look forward to your questions.
Comments