President Donald Trump suffered multiple legal blows on Tuesday.
One federal judge indefinitely blocked his ban on transgender service members, while another ruled that the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development was likely unconstitutional.
Newsweek contacted the White House for comment via email outside regular business hours.
Why It Matters
Since returning to office, Trump has signed a series of executive orders covering immigration, foreign aid, the legal rights of transgender people and more. The Trump administration is also working to dismantle government agencies and eliminate large swaths of the federal workforce.
But the president has faced a string of legal setbacks to his sweeping agenda. Tuesday’s rulings came within hours of Trump calling for the impeachment of a federal judge who ruled against his deportation plans, which prompted a rebuke from Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts.
What To Know
On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang in Maryland ruled that Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency likely violated the Constitution “in multiple ways” while dismantling USAID.
Chuang said DOGE’s actions “harmed not only Plaintiffs, but also the public interest, because they deprived the public’s elected representatives in Congress of their constitutional authority to decide whether, when, and how to close down an agency created by Congress.”
The judge ordered the reinstatement of email and computer access to USAID employees, including those placed on administrative leave.
That same day, U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes in Washington, D.C., ruled that Trump’s order to exclude transgender troops from military service likely violated their constitutional rights.
“The cruel irony is that thousands of transgender servicemembers have sacrificed—some risking their lives—to ensure for others the very equal protection rights the Military Ban seeks to deny them,” Reyes wrote in her ruling.
Then, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan in Washington, D.C., blocked the Trump administration from terminating $14 billion in grants awarded to three climate groups by former President Joe Biden‘s administration.
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin froze the grants, accusing the recipients of fraud and mismanagement.
Chutkan wrote in her order, “At this juncture, EPA Defendants have not sufficiently explained why unilaterally terminating Plaintiffs’ grant awards was a rational precursor to reviewing” the green bank program. Her order prevents the EPA from ending the $20 billion grant program and also blocks Citibank, which holds the money on behalf of the EPA, from transferring it to the government or anyone else.
In Maryland, U.S. District Judge Julie Rubin ordered the Trump administration to restore some education grants it terminated as part of its efforts to end diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
Rubin wrote that the Department of Education had acted arbitrarily when it cut $600 million in teacher training grants it said were promoting divisive ideologies.
The cuts could have a “grave effect on the public: fewer teachers for students in high-need neighborhoods, early childhood education, and special education programs,” Rubin wrote. She also ordered the administration to stop future cuts to the grants.
What People Are Saying
President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social on Wednesday: “If a President doesn’t have the right to throw murderers, and other criminals, out of our Country because a Radical Left Lunatic Judge wants to assume the role of President, then our Country is in very big trouble, and destined to fail!”
Stephen Miller, Trump’s deputy chief of staff, wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday: “Unelected rogue judges are trying to steal years of time from a 4 year term. It’s the most egregious theft one can imagine: robbing the vote and voice of the American People.”
Norm Eisen, the executive chair of State Democracy Defenders Fund, one of two groups representing the plaintiffs in the lawsuit over USAID, told Newsweek in a statement: “Today’s decision is an important victory against Elon Musk and his DOGE attack on USAID, the US government and the Constitution. They are performing surgery with a chainsaw instead of a scalpel, harming not just the people USAID serves but the majority of Americans who count on the stability of our government. This case is a milestone in pushing back on Musk and DOGE’s illegality.”
What Happens Next
Chuang’s order indefinitely blocked DOGE from taking any actions relating to USAID without sign-off from an agency official with legal authority.
So administration officials such as Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the acting head of USAID, could make further cuts to the agency.
Reyes issued an injunction that allows transgender troops to keep serving in the military until their lawsuit against the Trump administration’s ban is decided. She delayed her order until Friday to give the administration time to appeal.
The post Donald Trump Suffers Multiple Legal Blows in 24 Hours appeared first on Newsweek.
