Last weekend, I spoke on a panel about executive power. The other panelists ranged in positions from "We are in a constitutional crisis" to "We are almost in a constitutional crisis." My position, perhaps unsurprisingly, was that everyone needed to take a deep breath. I've seen no evidence, at all, that the executive branch is attempting to flagrantly violate any federal court order. To the contrary, the Trump Administration has taken every possible step to appeal adverse rulings, and avoid violating orders.
But the government can only do so much when judges go too far. Case in point is the litigation over USAID funding. On Tuesday, a district court judge ordered the Trump Administration to pay nearly $2 billion by 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday evening. The government insisted that it would be impossible to pay all of those amounts. It was not as simple as turning as light switch on. Yet, the District Court refused to stay its TRO.
The government sought an emergency stay from the D.C. Circuit by 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday. But the D.C. Circuit did not rule on the motion by that time. So the Solicitor General filed an emergency application for an administrative stay with Circuit Justice Roberts. Roberts granted that motion on his own before the midnight deadline. At least for the near future, the government will not be obligated to disburse the full amount.
