Our Democracy demands we reckon with unelected judges imposing their unpopular views on America
America's Founding Fathers established a carefully balanced system of government with three co-equal branches, each serving as a check on the others. Today, this balance faces a serious threat from unelected judges who increasingly legislate from the bench rather than interpret the law as written. Recently, judges imposed a number of ill-advised and incomprehensible nationwide injunctions to keep President Donald Trump from doing his job.
Let’s get one thing straight: President Trump received over 77 million votes in 2024. He was the first Republican to win the popular vote in the last 20 years. The Republican Party in November held onto the U.S. House of Representatives and picked up four seats in the U.S. Senate with President Trump at the top of our ticket.
Throughout his campaign, President Trump was transparent with the American people about his views, his policy goals, and what he hoped to achieve if elected again in 2024. Americans knew exactly what they were voting for on November 5th when they sent him back to the White House to replace Joe Biden.
What they didn’t vote for was unelected judges pushing the bounds of their legal authority to undermine and halt President Trump at every turn.
Yet that is precisely what’s happening: For every announcement the President issues to end DEI policies, eliminate wasteful federal government jobs, cut funding to radical left-wing immigration groups, or deport criminal illegal aliens, liberal lawyers have a federal judge in mind to block it, despite our nation’s founding principles.
Most citizens of Wyoming have never heard of these judges, yet every one seems to have more power and control over our government than the elected President of the United States.
One of the most shocking examples happened when U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg ordered planes full of dangerous illegal aliens and alleged Tren de Aragua gang members to turn around mid-flight and return to the United States instead of landing in Venezuela.
Another federal judge blocked the Trump administration from firing probationary federal workers. Just last week a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to restore taxpayer funding for legal services for illegal aliens.
In less than 90 days, federal courts have smacked the Trump administration with 15 nationwide injunctions. The New York Post recently reported that Biden received 14 national injunctions throughout his entire four year presidency.
I believe that most citizens of Wyoming would agree that a single federal district judge should not have the power to issue a nationwide injunction with broad implications.
Congress can’t continue to let the lower courts run roughshod; we must rein them in. Congress must also reconsider the scope of federal district judges' powers, particularly their ability to issue nationwide injunctions that extend far beyond the cases before them.
Our constitutional republic depends on maintaining proper separation of powers. Judges serve a vital role in our system, but that role is to interpret - not create - the law. Restoring these boundaries isn't partisan, it's about preserving the democratic principles that have sustained our nation for generations.
When Democrats fail at the ballot box, they turn to the courts to accomplish their goals. They used the Justice Department to go after President Trump during the last four years - and they are now using unelected federal judges to block what they can’t stop in the executive or legislative branch.
That’s why I recently introduced legislation with Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley and Senator John Barrasso that would limit federal court orders to parties directly before the court - ending the practice of nationwide injunctions and clarifying the constitutional role of the judicial branch to decide the law in a non-partisan way.
We must remember that judges are not policymakers – and they have not been elected by the American people to legislate. The people of Wyoming deserve a government where their elected representatives make the laws. It's time to rein in judicial overreach and restore the constitutional order our founders envisioned.
It’s time that people remember we elected President Trump in November, not unaccountable liberal judges.
Cynthia Lummis has served as a U.S. Senator from Wyoming since 2021. She previously served as U.S. Representative of Wyoming and State Treasurer of Wyoming
