The new Trump team has been implementing dozens of new orders. Legal battles threaten to undo everything.
That’s why a top lawyer says a major showdown between Trump and the U.S. Supreme Court is right around the corner.
Attorney Alan Dershowitz Predicts Appeals Will Overturn Injunctions Against Trump
Attorney Alan Dershowitz expressed confidence on Monday that many of the injunctions blocking actions by President Donald Trump — ranging from his executive orders to efforts aimed at curbing wasteful and fraudulent spending — will eventually be overturned on appeal. Speaking on The Dershow, Dershowitz discussed the ongoing legal challenges to various Trump administration actions, emphasizing that these matters are likely to be resolved by the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Trump administration is currently appealing several injunctions imposed by federal judges. These injunctions target actions such as the establishment of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and Trump’s January 20 executive order aimed at ending birthright citizenship, among other policies. Dershowitz, a prominent legal scholar, indicated that these issues are not likely to remain in the lower courts for long.
“No one ever said that our system of checks and balances would make it easy to govern or would make it efficient to govern,” Dershowitz remarked. “No, no, the design of our system of checks and balances was to create enough power to govern effectively while, at the same time, denying any one part of our government enough power to create a tyranny.” He continued, explaining that this delicate balance between branches of government can sometimes make governance more difficult, but also serves to prevent any branch from becoming too powerful.
Dershowitz acknowledged that while the system may seem cumbersome, it ultimately ensures that decisions made by the president are subject to scrutiny. “The president issues executive order after executive order after executive order, and what do the states do? They get their attorneys general to bring a lawsuit,” he said. “They search all over the country for the best judges. They hand-pick the judges. They file the lawsuits, and you get judges saying, ‘Uh-uh, no, Mr. President, you can’t do that.’”
These lawsuits can temporarily halt presidential actions, with a single judge able to block the president’s orders for a short time. “I say an hour metaphorically,” Dershowitz clarified, noting that it could be days before the matter is appealed. Ultimately, these cases are brought before higher courts, and many are expected to reach the U.S. Supreme Court. Dershowitz confidently predicted that the president would comply with the Court’s final ruling, as opposed to defying it, referencing the historical instance of President Andrew Jackson, who famously ignored a ruling by the Supreme Court.
President Trump’s executive order ending automatic birthright citizenship hasn't just set his critics' hair on fire; it's set their pants on fire. Their immediate reaction was to claim – falsely – that President Trump was rewriting the 14th Amendment.
Here's the truth: pic.twitter.com/jbnV2yjT5U
— Federation for American Immigration Reform (@FAIRImmigration) February 7, 2025
One high-profile example discussed by Dershowitz was the case of United States District Judge John J. McConnell Jr. from the District of Rhode Island. Judge McConnell had threatened Trump with criminal contempt charges over a spending freeze Trump ordered. Dershowitz argued that while President Trump may disagree with certain court rulings, he has consistently shown a willingness to comply with them. “President Trump has never defied a court order, and he has indicated that he would comply with court orders, but he needs to know that he has the right to appeal these court orders,” Dershowitz explained. “Many of them will be found to be improper. The courts don’t have the power to stop this or stop that.”
Dershowitz also commented on the protests organized by Democrats outside the headquarters of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Treasury Department. These protests were sparked by Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s announcement that he planned to shut down USAID as part of his role as chairman of the Department of Government Efficiency. Dershowitz used this as an opportunity to highlight the role of the federal bureaucracy, noting that many of these agencies, though created by Congress, are ultimately part of the executive branch.
“People keep forgetting, the bureaucracy, the bureaucracy, the alphabet agencies. They are not an independent branch. They are part of the executive, and the executive is the president,” he asserted. “Now, it’s complicated, because Congress created many of these agencies.” He provided examples, such as the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Drug Administration, which were created by Congress but still fall under the executive branch. Despite this complexity, Dershowitz argued that the president holds significant authority over these agencies, including the ability to fire their heads at will, without needing congressional approval or a specific reason.
He emphasized that while some agency heads are confirmed by Congress, such as the director of the FBI or cabinet members, the president retains the power to dismiss them as he sees fit. “The president can fire any of those heads of agencies at his whim. He doesn’t even have to have a reason to do it.”
The Conservative Column will update you on any news from the Judicial branch regarding the litigation over the Trump admin executive orders.
