Democrats have sought to block the Trump administration from carrying out its policies by bringing lawsuits before Democratic Party judges, in which the administration’s actions are challenged on various grounds. The Democratic Party’s District Court judges then issue sweeping orders enjoining the government’s actions, sometimes without even hearing from the administration’s lawyers. We have never seen anything like this in our history.
Yesterday the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals issued an order in several related cases involving the United States Agency for Global Media, which, among other things, oversees Voice of America. The cases were brought by employees who are being laid off, and entities that had contracts with agencies controlled by USAGM:
On March 14, 2025, the President issued Executive Order 14238, which directed USAGM leadership to reduce the agency to the minimum level of operations required by statute. 90 Fed. Reg. 13043. In response, USAGM placed over 1,000 employees on administrative leave, terminated nearly 600 personal-service contractors, and terminated [Radio Free Asia’s and Middle East Broadcasting Networks’] grant agreements for the 2025 fiscal year.
The district judge entered an order blocking the administration’s actions; yesterday the Court of Appeals stayed that order.
The Court of Appeals held that the district court probably lacked jurisdiction to address the claims of laid-off employees. Under federal law, claims by employees are adjudicated by agencies like the Merit Systems Protection Board. Likewise with contractors. The D.C. Circuit held that courts do not have jurisdiction to address the claims of 1,000 or more employees en masse as an end run around the required statutory procedures.
The Court further held that the claims asserted on behalf of entities whose grant agreements with the agencies have been terminated can be adjudicated only under the Tucker Act, which governs claims for breach of contract against the federal government. Because the district court in all likelihood lacked jurisdiction, the Court held that the Trump administration is likely to prevail on the merits, and therefore the district court’s order was stayed, pending appeal. This means that the administration’s actions will take effect as provided in President Trump’s executive order.
How significant all of this will be, remains to be seen. Voice of America is not being shut down. The Court says in a footnote:
We need not consider any potential harm from shuttering VOA; the district court ordered USAGM to resume VOA’s statutorily required programming levels, and the government has not sought to stay that provision of the injunction.
The battle over Executive Branch powers will continue, but these limitations on hastily-granted restraining orders issued by Democratic Party judges will strengthen the administration’s hand. Many of DOGE’s savings relate to grants that were improvidently made by the Biden administration. The mere fact that those grantees will have to pursue claims for breach of contract under the Tucker Act, which will take years, as opposed to relying on ex parte orders by Democratic Party judges, is huge.
These cases were heard by D.C. Circuit Court Judges Gregory Katsas, a Trump appointee, Neomi Rao, also a Trump appointee, and Cornelia Pillard, an Obama appointee. Pillard wrote a long dissent from the majority opinion, setting forth the Democratic Party’s position.
All three of these judges are pretty distinguished. When Neomi Rao was nominated to the D.C. Circuit in 2019, she was controversial in some quarters of the conservative movement. We defended her nomination here and elsewhere.
The D.C. Circuit has never been considered a bastion of conservatism, but in the current battles over the Democrats’ effort to use partisan judicial tyranny to slow down the Trump administration, it has done well. As I noted here, the D.C. Circuit held in March that the President’s Article II powers entitle him to fire members of the Executive Branch, and any statute to the contrary is unconstitutional. This means, I think, that the Civil Service Act is unconstitutional. But that is a topic for another day.
Meanwhile, given this second solid ruling from the D.C. Circuit, the Democrats may have to start bringing their lawsuits somewhere else.
