With President Donald Trump’s administration appearing to act in open defiance of court orders, even as the Justice Department insists the administration is trying to comply in good faith, and Vice President JD Vance railing against the authority of the judiciary, legal experts note that courts could still impose dramatic civil penalties on those who carry out Trump's orders, a measure courts are yet to impose.
At the same time, historians note that the Trump administration, in asserting broad executive powers unchecked by Congress or the courts, is reviving legal battles that were considered settled hundreds of years ago.
