DC court rulings stall Trump agenda across immigration, policing, Fed — raising stakes on executive power
President Donald Trump's second-term agenda is hitting repeated roadblocks in Washington, D.C., federal court, where judges have halted major policies — fueling a growing clash over whether the judiciary is checking executive power or overstepping into it. The rulings have halted key parts of Trump’s agenda on immigration, policing and federal authority, intensifying debate over whether courts are acting as a constitutional check or obstructing elected leadership. Here are some of the biggest court clashes Trump is facing in D.C. federal court. One of the biggest fights is also one of the earliest lawsuits filed against the Trump administration in D.C. federal court — centered on the Trump administration's use of the Alien Enemies Act , a 1798 wartime law, to deport certain migrants to El Salvador's CECOT prison. Civil rights groups and immigration advocates have argued the Trump administration is stretching the law beyond its intended use case, including the three pr...