Schumer Announces: After Weeks Of Fighting Republicans’ Attack On Justice System, Senate Dems Successfully Fight To Remove Devastating Courts Provision In “Big, Ugly Betrayal”

New York, N.Y. – Today, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) announced that a provision which would have gutted judicial independence and altered the state of the U.S. Court system has been struck from the Republicans’ reconciliation legislation.

Today, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) announced that an unconstitutional provision hidden in Donald Trump and Republicans’ “Big, Ugly Betrayal” that would strip federal judges of their ability to enforce their own rulings was struck from the legislation. Earlier this month, Leader Schumer vowed to fight this provision and preserve judicial independence.

This Senate Republican provision, which was even worse than the similar House-passed version, required a plaintiff seeking an emergency court order, preliminary injunction, or a temporary restraining order against the Trump Administration or the federal government to pay a costly bond up front – essentially making the justice system pay-to-play.

“Senate Republicans tried to write Donald Trump’s contempt for the courts into law—gutting judicial enforcement, defying the Constitution, and bulldozing the very rule of law that forms our democracy. It was nothing short of an assault on the system of checks and balances that has anchored this nation since its founding, and a brazen attempt crown Trump king.

“But Senate Democrats stopped them cold. We successfully fought for rule of law and struck out this reckless and downright un-American provision.

“If enacted, this would have been one of the most brazen power grabs we’ve seen in American history  —an attempt to let a future President Trump ignore court orders with impunity, putting him above the law.

“Donald Trump is not above the law. And thanks to Senate Democrats – including the tireless work of Senator Durbin and the Judiciary  Democrats – the courts can still hold him and any president accountable.”

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