WASHINGTON ― A provision in the GOP’s tax-and-spending bill that would make it nearly impossible for anyone to sue the Trump administration for breaking laws is on track to be stripped from the bill after the Senate parliamentarian said it violates the chamber’s rules.
HuffPost is dedicated to holding lawmakers accountable and covering how their actions impact you, your community, and the country. Support journalism that demands transparency — for months. Grassley, visibly irritated, offered a confusing defense of this provision. He insisted judges don’t have the authority to issue injunctions, which they do.
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“You’re talking about the authority of judges to put national emergency,” he said, his voice rising. “Forget about who can enter the courtroom for anything, because judges can only see cases and controversy. They don’t have any authority to issue a national injunction, but if you do do an injunction, you’re supposed to put a bond up, and they haven’t put bonds up.”
Asked again about this provision making it too expensive for public interest groups to be able to sue the Trump administration at all, Grassley said, “Well, it seems to me, if you don’t even have authority in the Constitution or in the laws, to have national injunctions, you shouldn’t even be asking that question!”
He walked off in a huff.
