The power of liberal activist federal judges is under attack after Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) announced he is introducing legislation to curb abuse of nationwide injunctions. The bill, titled the Injunctive Authority Clarification Act, promises to fundamentally reshape the judicial landscape by restricting federal district court judges’ jurisdiction and preventing them from issuing sweeping, nationwide decisions.
For context, liberal judges across the United States are issuing nationwide injunctions to limit President Trump’s executive power. This is possible only because judicial orders issued by just one district court judge can effectively halt government policies across the entire country. That massive power is often abused by woke judges, allowing them to stop key Republican legislative initiatives and national security measures.
Rep. Biggs’s legislation targets liberal judges by limiting their decisions solely to the litigants in specific cases rather than issuing policies on a national scale, as he explained in a March 25 interview on Fox News. He said, “Article Three, section one of the Constitution, allows Congress to limit jurisdiction, and that’s what we’re doing. So I have legislation that would limit the jurisdiction of federal district courts to only the litigants before them and the case before them, so you couldn’t issue nationwide injunctions.”
Diving into how the newly proposed policy will ultimately stop federal judges from making decisions above what they were elected to do. Rep. Biggs revealed several solutions, saying, “We’re talking about impeachment. We’re talking about defunding certain courts and jurisdictional limitations on courts and the areas they can rule in.”
Building on that by bringing up another crucial aspect of the injunction, Rep. Biggs debunked a widely held misconception about judges’ lifetime tenure, explaining how federal judges do not have lifetime terms compared to justices on the Supreme Court. He said, “But I want to point out something. Most people think that federal judges have lifetime tenure. Everybody is told that, but that’s not accurate.
Returning to how the bill fits within the constitutional framework, Rep. Biggs explained, “Article Three, section one is very clear that they only get to have their job during a tenure of good behavior. And when you’re abusing your power for political purposes, you have violated that clause and were subject to termination from your job as a federal judge.”
Further, Rep. Biggs suggested Congress can remove rogue judges without a cumbersome impeachment process. He said, “And that doesn’t even require impeachment. What is required is for Congress to issue a resolution saying that the judge is acting outside of his scope of conduct. He’s engaged in misconduct and is not engaged in good conduct right now.” Watch the interview here:
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The Congressman’s assertive stance has resonated with conservatives tired of seeing federal courts overstep their roles. He wrote passionately on x, saying, “Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution gives Congress the authority to limit the jurisdiction of federal courts. My Injunctive Authority Clarification Act does exactly that. Woke activist judges must be not allowed to make sweeping legislative decisions for all Americans.”
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video