Napolitano to Newsmax: Reach of Federal Judges Driving Trump, DOJ 'Up the Wall'

Retired New Jersey Superior Court Judge Andrew Napolitano told Newsmax Friday that the issue of judicial reach is proving to be a thorn in the side of President Donald Trump and the Justice Department.

As Trump and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have taken a chainsaw to the federal government in an attempt to shrink the size of the sprawling bureaucracy, federal judges have repeatedly checked Trump's plans, hamstringing his administration's moves in ongoing legal battles.

Napolitano told "Newsline" that while the power of judges may seem unlimited, "it's not unchecked because you can appeal to an appellate court, and, as the Justice Department did last night, to the Supreme Court."

The Trump administration filed an emergency application with the high court Thursday night, asking the justices to narrow court orders entered by district judges in Maryland, Massachusetts, and Washington that blocked Trump's executive order ending birthright citizenship.

"Here's the issue, if I can put it in a nutshell: Can a judge, I'll just use New Jersey as an example, can a judge in New Jersey restrain the federal government in all the other 49 states?" Napolitano asked. "There's a legitimate argument that says, yes, and there's a legitimate argument that says, no. That's the issue that's got to come before the Supreme Court, and the Supreme Court needs to rule on that with clarity."

"That's what's driving the president and the DOJ up the wall," he added. "Not the authority of the federal judges, but the reach that they are claiming to have far beyond the jurisdiction of the judicial district in which they sit."

In its Thursday court filing, the Department of Justice reportedly argues that individual judges do not have the power to give their rulings nationwide effect. Meanwhile, a majority of five conservative justices have expressed concern in the past about universal injunctions, or rulings that apply nationwide.

While it's unclear yet if the Supreme Court will take up the case because "the feds just filed it last night," Napolitano said he hopes the justices do decide to consider the matter.

"They will give the 22 state attorneys general probably until Tuesday or Wednesday to file, and then the court will rule," he said. "This is in an emergency status, so the DOJ will have to show that there's irreparable harm to the federal government or to the Constitution when the president is restrained."

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