Feb. 7, 2017
Good morning from Washington, where liberals assail both President Trump's pause of travel from terrorism-prone nations and his reaction to a judge who shot it down. Fred Lucas looks at Trump's view of the judiciary, while Hans von Spakovsky argues the order is constitutional. Republican lawmakers are slow off the mark, Rachel del Guidice reports. Bureaucrats should worry about Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch, Josh Siegel learns. Plus: Curt Levey on the top Senate Democrat's double standard, and Sen. Mike Lee on when to defund Planned Parenthood.
When the 115th Congress arrived Jan. 3, a Republican majority for the first time in 10 years could advance a policy agenda unobstructed by Democrats. Yet a month later, the GOP-led Congress has produced just three bills for President Trump to sign.
With 94 U.S. district courts, it's possible for liberal advocacy groups to file suits across the country, particularly with issues such as immigration with a large pool of potential clients, and gain a sweeping national decision out of just one district.
No federal judge, including Judge Robart, has the authority to substitute his judgment for that of the president when it comes to making a decision on what is detrimental to the national security and foreign policy interests of the nation. But that is exactly what he did.
As Congress comes closer to repealing Obamacare, proponents of the law have mounted a vocal defense of it, touting both its necessity and popularity among those it has helped. But public opinion polls tell a different story.
Democrats seem to have forgotten they cheered President Obama's attempt to bully the Supreme Court during his 2010 State of the Union address, when he denounced and falsely characterized the court's Citizens United decision while the justices sat yards away.
Planned Parenthood performed nearly 1 million abortions between 2011 and 2013.
If confirmed as a member of the Supreme Court, Neil Gorsuch could push to limit or overturn a 33-year-old legal doctrine, known as Chevron, that says the courts should defer to executive branch agencies' interpretations of ambiguous laws passed by Congress.
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