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US S’Court Limits Judges’ Power, Boosts Trump’s Executive Authority

Published

4 months ago

June 27, 2025

The US Supreme Court handed President Donald Trump a major victory on Friday by curbing the power of lone federal judges to block executive actions.

In a 6-3 ruling stemming from Trump’s bid to end birthright citizenship, the court said nationwide injunctions issued by district court judges “likely exceed the equitable authority that Congress has granted to federal courts.”

The top court did not immediately rule on the constitutionality of Trump’s executive order seeking to end automatic citizenship for children born on American soil.

But the broader decision on the scope of judicial rulings will remove a big roadblock to Trump’s often highly controversial orders and reaffirm the White House’s power.

“Federal courts do not exercise general oversight of the Executive Branch; they resolve cases and controversies consistent with the authority Congress has given them,” said Justice Amy Coney Barrett, author of the opinion.

“When a court concludes that the Executive Branch has acted unlawfully, the answer is not for the court to exceed its power, too,” Barrett said in an opinion joined by the other five conservative justices on the court.

The three liberal justices dissented.

The ruling has far-reaching ramifications for the ability of the judiciary to rein in Trump or future American presidents.

The case was ostensibly about Trump’s executive order signed on his first day in office ending birthright citizenship.

But it actually focused on whether a single federal district court judge has the right to issue a nationwide block to a presidential decree with a universal injunction while the matter is being challenged in the courts.

Trump’s birthright citizenship order has been deemed unconstitutional by courts in Maryland, Massachusetts and Washington state, leading the president to make an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court in an effort to get the top court to strike down the use of nationwide injunctions.

The issue has become a rallying cry for Trump and his Republican allies, who accuse the judiciary of stymying his agenda against the will of voters.

Trump’s executive order on birthright citizenship is just one of a number of his agenda items that have been blocked by judges around the country — both Democratic and Republican appointees – since he took office in January.

During oral arguments in the case before the Supreme Court in May, both conservative and liberal justices had expressed concerns about the increasing use of nationwide injunctions by district courts in recent years.

– ‘Nuclear weapon’ –

Justice Samuel Alito, an arch-conservative, said nationwide injunctions pose a “practical problem” because there are hundreds of district court judges and every one of them is “convinced” they know best.

Solicitor General John Sauer compared injunctions to a “nuclear weapon,” saying they “disrupt the Constitution’s careful balancing of the separation of powers.”

The Trump administration had asked the Supreme Court to restrict the application of a district court’s injunction solely to the parties who brought the case and the district where the judge presides.

Past presidents have also complained about national injunctions shackling their agenda, but such orders have sharply risen under Trump, who has seen more in two months than Democrat Joe Biden did during his first three years in office.

Trump’s executive order on birthright citizenship decrees that children born to parents in the United States illegally or on temporary visas would not automatically become citizens.

The three lower courts ruled that to be a violation of the 14th Amendment, which states: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States”

AFP

News

Ovia South West Council Chairman, Edobor Bags National Merit Award

Published

12 hours ago

October 24, 2025

Editor

The Acting Chairman of Ovia South West Local Government Council in Edo State, Hon. Charles Nosakhare Edobor, has bagged the 2025 Nigerian Local Government Merit Award (LOGMA).

He was awarded as the Best Performing Local Government Chairman in Nigeria (Security and infrastructure development, purposeful leadership).

Speaking after being conferred with the prestigious award, Edobor applauded the organizers for recognizing his administration’s commitment to localizing good governance.

He highlighted his leadership’s remarkable strides in building a sustainable, livable, and prosperous council area through numerous people-oriented programmes and projects-particularly in road infrastructure and the provision of basic social amenities.

Edobor dedicated the award to the Governor of Edo State, Senator Monday Okpebholo, and to the good people of Ovia south west Local Government Area.

He expressed satisfaction with the honour. He emphasized that the award would further spur him to work harder in pursuing people-centred programmes aligned with Senator Monday Okpebholo’s S.H.I.N.E and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

Edobor commended Governor Okpebholo for his visionary leadership and unwavering support for local government administrations across the state.

He reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to deepening rural development, empowering youth and women, and ensuring the dividends of democracy reach every ward in Ovia south west local government.

Earlier, in his welcome address at the event which held on Wednesday at the National Merit House, Abuja, the National Coordinator of LOGMA, Chief Bayode Ojo, stated that the award was designed to showcase the achievements of local government chairmen and reward excellence in grassroots governance – particularly those who have demonstrated exceptional commitment to promoting grassroots development despite the challenges confronting the third tier of government.

He congratulated all the awardees for making the final list after rigorous scrutiny and spot-checking of some of their executed projects to verify the authenticity of their claims.

Chief Ojo further urged the awardees to continue to be shining examples of sustainable growth at the grassroots and in the country at large.

News

JUST IN: Tinubu Sacks CDS Musa, Names New Army Boss

Published

13 hours ago

October 24, 2025

Editor

President Bola Tinubu has made changes in the hierarchy of the Service Chiefs in furtherance of the efforts of the Federal Government of Nigeria to strengthen the national security architecture.

The President appointed General Olufemi Oluyede to replace General Christopher Musa as the new Chief of Defence Staff.

More to follow…

News

Lagos Inaugurates 24-hour Traffic Management Operations

Published

1 day ago

October 23, 2025

Editor

The Lagos State Government has launched two transformative initiatives designed to recalibrate traffic governance and restore environmental sanctity across the metropolis.

In a visionary bid to guarantee seamless mobility and safe commuting at all hours, the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) has formally instituted a 24-hour operational framework for traffic management and enforcement across Lagos State.

The groundbreaking initiative, officially commissioned by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Transportation, Sola Giwa, constitutes a seminal moment in the evolution of Lagos’s transportation governance.

It manifests Governor Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu’s strategic ambition to ensure the uninterrupted movement of people, goods and services within Nigeria’s economic epicentre—a city that operates continuously, unhindered by congestion or disorder.

According to Giwa, the 24-hour operational regime epitomises the administration’s steadfast dedication to constant vigilance, operational efficiency and disciplined traffic regulation, especially as the metropolis approaches the festive period, traditionally characterised by heightened vehicular and commercial activity.

This information was contained in a statement yesterday by the Director, Public Affairs and Enlightenment Department of LASTMA, Adebayo Taofiq.

He elaborated that the framework is meticulously designed to facilitate continuous monitoring, rapid emergency response and immediate clearance of traffic obstructions irrespective of time, thereby mitigating congestion and enhancing the commuter experience.

“This initiative exemplifies the Lagos State Government’s resolute commitment to safeguarding mobility, preserving lives and sustaining economic productivity through perpetual traffic oversight,” Giwa stated.

A pivotal component of the initiative is the establishment of the Night Rapid Response Gang, a specialised unit within LASTMA charged with swiftly addressing nocturnal traffic incidents, including vehicular breakdowns, collisions and other obstructions along critical arteries of the metropolis.

In tandem with these traffic management reforms, the Lagos State Government also executed a comprehensive clearance operation along Apapa Road, Costain and the Ijora Under Bridge, eliminating illegal structures, shanties and unregulated trading that had long obstructed free vehicular flow and compromised public safety.

The far-reaching enforcement exercise, spearheaded by Sola Giwa in coordination with LASTMA, the Nigeria Police Force, Mobile Police (MOPOL), the Lagos State Task Force and the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps (LAGESC), culminated in the removal of unauthorised traders, makeshift structures and multiple environmental infractions.

During the operation, enforcement teams uncovered an illegal diesel dumping site and impounded substantial quantities of expired plantain chips and cheese balls, stored under unsanitary conditions—a testament to the government’s prioritisation of public health and environmental integrity.

The exercise followed persistent warnings and public sensitisation campaigns urging illegal occupants under bridges to vacate. Teams also identified blocked drainage channels choked with metallic debris, contributing to perennial flooding and environmental degradation.

Furthermore, several commercial buses and tricycles operating unlawfully along the newly constructed Costain Bridge and Apapa Road were impounded.

Shanties adjacent to St. Catholic Church School, Apapa Road, were demolished, reinstating the area to its intended urban and educational purpose, while criminal hideouts beneath the Ijora Bridge were dismantled to enhance public security.

Giwa reaffirmed that the Sanwo-Olu administration will not compromise on public safety, environmental protection or the rule of law, stressing that Lagos must remain a city distinguished by structure, order and discipline.

General Manager of LASTMA, Olalekan Bakare-Oki, appealed to traders, transport operators and commuters to comply with government directives, utilise designated markets and parking facilities, and actively support the administration’s efforts to maintain a safe, efficient and orderly metropolis.

He emphasised that the integration of 24-hour traffic management with environmental enforcement represents the Lagos State Government’s holistic approach to sustainable urban mobility—one that blends innovative regulation, proactive enforcement and civic responsibility.