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119th CONGRESS
1st Session |
Affirming the obligation of the President of the United States to comply with court orders.
Mr. Mullin (for himself, Mrs. Ramirez, Ms. Williams of Georgia, Ms. Norton, Ms. Clarke of New York, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Ms. Tlaib, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Mr. Thanedar, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Soto, Ms. Barragán, Mr. Swalwell, Mrs. Torres of California, Mr. Khanna, Ms. McCollum, Mrs. McIver, Ms. Kelly of Illinois, and Mr. Green of Texas) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
Affirming the obligation of the President of the United States to comply with court orders.
Whereas the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington on January 23, 2025, the United States District Court for the District of Maryland on February 5, 2025, and the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire on February 10, 2025, issued temporary restraining orders to prevent President of the United States Donald J. Trump from enforcing or implementing his executive order that would deny citizenship to individuals born in the United States;
Whereas the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on February 20, 2025, denied an emergency request to lift an injunction on President Trump’s executive order that would deny citizenship to individuals born in the United States;
Whereas the United States District Court for the District of Columbia on January 28, 2025, and the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island on January 31, 2025, and again on February 10, 2025, issued temporary restraining orders to prevent the Trump administration from pausing, freezing, or terminating Federal funds appropriated by Congress;
Whereas the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York issued a temporary order on February 8, 2025, preventing President Trump from granting access to Treasury Department payment records and systems to any individual other than civil servants with a need for access to perform their job duties;
Whereas the United States District Court for the District of Columbia on February 25, 2025, entered a preliminary injunction preventing the Office of Management and Budget from implementing, giving effect to, or reinstating a memorandum freezing all federal financial assistance under open awards;
Whereas the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on February 21, 2025, granted a preliminary injunction barring the Treasury Department from granting any member of the DOGE team access to payment records, payment systems, or any other data systems maintained by the Treasury Department;
Whereas the United States District Court for the Northern District of California on February 27, 2025, issued a temporary restraining order requiring the Office of Personnel and Management to rescind a directive to terminate employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs, the National Park Service, the Small Business Administration, the Bureau of Land Management, the Department of Defense, and the Fish and Wildlife Service;
Whereas, on February 9, 2025, Vice President of the United States J.D. Vance declared on X: “Judges aren’t allowed to control the executive’s legitimate power”;
Whereas, on February 15, 2025, President Trump declared on X: “He who saves his Country does not violate any Law”;
Whereas it has been established since 1803 in Marbury v. Madison that it is “the province and duty of the judicial department to say what the law is”, and it has been further established since 1952 in Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer that the President’s power “must stem either from an Act of Congress or from the Constitution”;
Whereas the United States Constitution, and hundreds of years of common law tradition, require all persons to comply with orders issued by duly established courts of jurisdiction;
Whereas the legal process allows for the opportunity to appeal a decision with which a litigant disagrees;
Whereas the duty to abide by a court order applies equally to all persons of the United States, including but not limited to government lawyers, all of whom must practice law in accordance with federal and state law;
Whereas those who defy a court order must be held accountable by our legal system; and
Whereas failing to comply with court orders puts the rule of law and the separation of powers established by the Constitution in grave jeopardy: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives—
(1) affirms the essential role of the judiciary in upholding checks and balances among the three coequal branches of the United States Government;
(2) calls on President Donald J. Trump and his administration to immediately comply with all existing court orders and decisions going forward; and
(3) affirms the judiciary’s authority to use all of the tools given to it by the Constitution and Congress to enforce its orders.