# How will this be enforced? (judge orders Trump administration to abide by his restraining order) **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [February 10, 2025, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-this-be-enforced-judge-orders-trump-administration-to-abide-by-his-restraining-order/1014147 "2025-02-10T19:57:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2025, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-this-be-enforced-judge-orders-trump-administration-to-abide-by-his-restraining-order/1014147/181 "2025-02-24T04:59:27Z")
Red FEMA will distribute the funds to Red states. Red FEMA will maintain supplies and emergency response ready for Red states. I’m puzzled you don’t understand DJT will keep FEMA (or whatever he decides to call it) as a way to send funds to red states. He said in a speech in the last couple of days that Blue states will cease to exist. I’m not sure what that means but I don’t see him sending aid to states that no longer exist. He’s a crook. The GOP Congress is full of crooks. They will find a way and the MAGA SCOTUS will do nothing to stop it. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2025, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-this-be-enforced-judge-orders-trump-administration-to-abide-by-his-restraining-order/1014147/182 "2025-02-24T06:05:58Z")
> [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](#): > > I’m puzzled you don’t understand DJT will keep FEMA (or whatever he decides to call it) as a way to send funds to red states [https://www.politico.com/news/2025/02/02/republicans-trump-fema-disasters-00201983](https://www.politico.com/news/2025/02/02/republicans-trump-fema-disasters-00201983) > [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](#): > > He said in a speech in the last couple of days that Blue states will cease to exist. I’m not sure what that means but I don’t see him sending aid to states that no longer exist. What he actually said specifically in the context of the 2026 mid-term elections was: > _“The red states are going to do good, and the blue states, I don’t know, maybe they’ll totally disappear off that map.”_ The implication is that their votes won’t matter because they will be outnumbered, so they might as well vote ‘red’. It is a given that Trump will resist sending aid to ‘blue’ states, as he has already threatened to do with California. But frankly, with all of the budget slashing and firing federal workers by the building-full, it seems unlikely that he would be able to send much in the way of money or aid to ‘red’ states, either, because even if he was willing to provide aid an effective response to a natural disaster or mass casualty event is more than just moving dollars from one general pot of federal money to a bank account in the name of Texas. He’s going to fuck over ‘red’ states just as much as he will ‘blue’ ones, and not give a fuck either way because what are they doing for him? As he said during the election (specifically addressing Evangelical Christians but he may as well have been talking to all of his voters): > _“Get out and vote! Just this time. You won’t have to do it anymore! Four more years, you know what? It’ll be fixed, it’ll be fine, you won’t have to vote anymore.”_ Trump is not assuming that he needs to curry anyones’ favor at this point. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2025, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-this-be-enforced-judge-orders-trump-administration-to-abide-by-his-restraining-order/1014147/183 "2025-02-24T19:30:56Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > Caine maybe should have refused the job on grounds that the President should pick an existing service branch head, as is normal. Were I offered a job in the Trump admin, I would take it for one reason only: There might be a time I had the chance to be the grownup in the room. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2025, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-this-be-enforced-judge-orders-trump-administration-to-abide-by-his-restraining-order/1014147/184 "2025-02-24T21:47:14Z")
> [@OldOlds](#): > > Were I offered a job in the Trump admin, I would take it for one reason only: There might be a time I had the chance to be the grownup in the room. Because that strategy has worked so well for other advisors who tried to reign him in? > **[The Latest: Trump fires Secretary of State Tillerson](https://apnews.com/article/6b3fe76623e24c33ba17305a0e08c505)** > > WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on the firing of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson (all times local): 7:30 p.m. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2025, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-this-be-enforced-judge-orders-trump-administration-to-abide-by-his-restraining-order/1014147/185 "2025-02-24T21:50:54Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > Because that strategy has worked so well for other advisors who tried to reign him in? Each of those incidents in Trump I at least slowed things down. They weren’t ultimately “winning” but they did help. ---
**Author:** ![DeadTreasSecretaries](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deadtreassecretaries/32/4817_2.png) [@DeadTreasSecretaries](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadTreasSecretaries)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2025, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-this-be-enforced-judge-orders-trump-administration-to-abide-by-his-restraining-order/1014147/186 "2025-02-26T17:36:06Z")
After giving the Trump admin 12 days to comply with a court order to unfreeze USAID funds, a judge (different judge than in OP) gave an order to unfreeze them within 36 hours, which the administration then appealed in part saying that they wouldn’t be able to use the proper payment integrity systems in that short of a time. > **[Trump admin says court order requiring payment of near-$2 billion is 'without...](https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/profoundly-erroneous-trump-admin-says-biden-appointed-judges-order-requiring-immediate-outlay-of-nearly-2-billion-is-without-legal-basis/)** > > The Trump administration is asking a federal appeals court to block a lower court's order requiring the government to pay nearly $2 billion in foreign aid funds. If the courts don’t hold officials in contempt and impose actual consequences at this point, we’re a full blown banana republic. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2025, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-this-be-enforced-judge-orders-trump-administration-to-abide-by-his-restraining-order/1014147/187 "2025-02-27T01:36:04Z")
For the record about enforcement of Court Orders: > **[At Senate hearing, Trump Justice Department nominees are cagey on whether...](https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/26/politics/justice-trump-court-orders-sauer-reitz/index.html)** > > Two of President Donald Trump’s nominees for senior Justice Department positions – including his former personal attorney – deflected questions Wednesday from senators on whether they would adhere to all court orders against the administration. > Two of President Donald Trump’s nominees for senior Justice Department positions – including his former personal attorney – deflected questions Wednesday from senators on whether they would adhere to all court orders against the administration. > > An overriding question of the Trump administration, already facing a raft of litigation against the president’s executive orders, is whether it would abide by court decisions. Trump and some of his top advisers [have suggested](https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/10/politics/constitutional-crisis-trump-overhaul-analysis-biskupic/index.html) they might not be constrained by adverse court rulings. Not that _most_ of the people here had many doubts, but no, the people Trump is putting into power appear to trust their own / Trump’s judgement about what is legal, rather than the part of government that is _actually_ in charge of that. And each person placed into such positions by a supine Senate makes a future democratically elected non-MAGA executive ever-less-possible and elevates the chances/need for a _violent_ transition of power. Bad times folks. ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2025, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-this-be-enforced-judge-orders-trump-administration-to-abide-by-his-restraining-order/1014147/188 "2025-02-27T03:59:04Z")
Bad times yes. But not as bad as they are likely to get. ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2025, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-this-be-enforced-judge-orders-trump-administration-to-abide-by-his-restraining-order/1014147/189 "2025-02-27T06:29:31Z")
> [@ParallelLines](#): > > the people Trump is putting into power appear to trust their own / Trump’s judgement about what is legal, rather than the part of government that is _actually_ in charge of that. They have already learned how to deal with the law. You delay or ignore it until it doesn’t matter anymore. They just watched Trump do exactly that. They have no intention of following court orders. They don’t care about what is “legal”, all they are concerned about is getting what they want. This is going to be a big problem for Democrats because they still obey the law. Republicans will have no problem enforcing against others what they themselves ignore. How are Democrats going to handle that when the revenge machine kicks into high gear? ---
**Author:** ![DeadTreasSecretaries](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deadtreassecretaries/32/4817_2.png) [@DeadTreasSecretaries](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadTreasSecretaries)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2025, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-this-be-enforced-judge-orders-trump-administration-to-abide-by-his-restraining-order/1014147/190 "2025-03-05T00:52:06Z")
Last Wednesday the supreme court put a stay on the order to unfreeze funds so they could consider the Trump admin’s case that 2 days was too short a time period to finish complying with an order they got 2 weeks ago. The supreme court is apparently still carefully considering this. > **[Monday check-in: Still no word from SCOTUS on USAID payments case](https://www.lawdork.com/p/still-no-word-from-scotus-usaid-payments-case)** > > Also: A ruling that Trump illegally fired Hampton Dellinger as head of the Office of Special Counsel. And: Three Friday rulings — on firings, trans rights, and refugees. But in the meantime, the Trump administration has [finished destroying USAID](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lakZQ04PYTQ). Can’t really blame the Trump admin for seizing the opportunity - there’s clearly nothing stopping them - eventually some judge might rule that they weren’t legally allowed to break humpty dumpty and the only real recourse if any is that taxpayers will have to pay humpty dumpty’s debts to a bunch of other things that also can’t be put back together again. I have to think Roberts et al realize that Trump is now going to try this exact strategy with elections - and has already started trying to mess with the FEC. EDIT: The stay was actually on Wednesday, not Friday. ---
**Author:** ![MikeF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2025, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-this-be-enforced-judge-orders-trump-administration-to-abide-by-his-restraining-order/1014147/191 "2025-03-05T02:42:27Z")
Am I wrong or is it likely that, should a federal judge find some individual, somewhere, in contempt, Trump will simply pardon whoever that person might be? Is there anything that would prevent that? ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2025, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-this-be-enforced-judge-orders-trump-administration-to-abide-by-his-restraining-order/1014147/192 "2025-03-05T02:45:38Z")
I don’t believe the President can pardon from contempt even in a Federal court. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2025, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-this-be-enforced-judge-orders-trump-administration-to-abide-by-his-restraining-order/1014147/193 "2025-03-05T03:13:31Z")
> [@DeadTreasSecretaries](#): > > But in the meantime, the Trump administration has [finished destroying USAID](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lakZQ04PYTQ). For their next trick, selling the headquarters buildings out from under the FBI and DoJ: > **[Trump administration releases list of hundreds of federal buildings targeted...](https://apnews.com/article/gsa-federal-buildings-doge-fbi-doj-aa123e9c3b12e38c8fa511c2a727f880)** > > The Trump administration has published a list of more than 440 federal properties it identified to close or sell, including the FBI headquarters and the main Department of Justice building, after deeming them “not core to government operations.” Stranger ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2025, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-this-be-enforced-judge-orders-trump-administration-to-abide-by-his-restraining-order/1014147/194 "2025-03-05T03:39:10Z")
I believe that depends on the type of contempt.He would be able to pardon someone convicted of criminal contempt - but civil contempt doesn’t involve a conviction. ---
**Author:** ![SunUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SunUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunUp)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2025, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-this-be-enforced-judge-orders-trump-administration-to-abide-by-his-restraining-order/1014147/195 "2025-03-05T03:44:29Z")
This seems like an attempt to “set the ratchet”, i.e. make it so that a future administration which would like to staff them back up to their previous state would be stymied by the fact that the real estate is simply no longer available for them to do so. I’ve gotta figure the Heritage Foundation is behind this, although Trump’s stated in the past he’d like to have some D.C. real estate of his own. Plus, it would make Federal coffers look more flush, allowing the Republican congresscritters to deliver larger tax breaks. I’m sure there will be some court cases, Congress will dither about what to do, and the courts will take plenty of time carefully considering all angles of the suits, thus allowing the executive to complete its property divestment and present SCOTUS with a _fait accompli_, at which point the suits will be tossed aside as moot. ---
**Author:** ![DeadTreasSecretaries](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deadtreassecretaries/32/4817_2.png) [@DeadTreasSecretaries](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadTreasSecretaries)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2025, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-this-be-enforced-judge-orders-trump-administration-to-abide-by-his-restraining-order/1014147/196 "2025-03-05T04:33:53Z")
> [@SunUp](#): > > I’ve gotta figure the Heritage Foundation is behind this, although Trump’s stated in the past he’d like to have some D.C. real estate of his own. Plus, it would make Federal coffers look more flush, allowing the Republican congresscritters to deliver larger tax breaks. It’s going to be tough to find people to take these jobs and contracts knowing that the next administration can rip them up. If it’s any consolation the savings from this are still going to be dwarfed by the tax cuts the GOP is proposing so they are still going to be exposed like they always are when they’re in charge for not actually caring about the deficit. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2025, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-this-be-enforced-judge-orders-trump-administration-to-abide-by-his-restraining-order/1014147/197 "2025-03-05T15:43:42Z")
> [@DeadTreasSecretaries](#): > > Last Wednesday the supreme court put a stay on the order to unfreeze funds so they could consider the Trump admin’s case that 2 days was too short a time period to finish complying with an order they got 2 weeks ago. > > The supreme court is apparently still carefully considering this. > > [Still no word from SCOTUS on USAID payments case](https://www.lawdork.com/p/still-no-word-from-scotus-usaid-payments-case) > > But in the meantime, the Trump administration has [finished destroying USAID](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lakZQ04PYTQ). > > Can’t really blame the Trump admin for seizing the opportunity - there’s clearly nothing stopping them - eventually some judge might rule that they weren’t legally allowed to break humpty dumpty and the only real recourse if any is that taxpayers will have to pay humpty dumpty’s debts to a bunch of other things that also can’t be put back together again. A very small shift in the ice this morning - John Roberts and Amy Coney Barrett defect from the SCOTUS conservatives: [**Divided Supreme Court says judge can force Trump administration to pay foreign aid** (_Washington Post_)](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/divided-supreme-court-says-judge-can-force-trump-administration-to-pay-foreign-aid/ar-AA1AiWyD) > A sharply divided Supreme Court on Wednesday denied the Trump administration’s request to block a lower court order on foreign aid funding, clearing the way for the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development to restart nearly $2 billion in payments. … > [@DeadTreasSecretaries](#): > > I have to think Roberts et al realize that Trump is now going to try this exact strategy with elections - and has already started trying to mess with the FEC. Staying tuned. ---
**Author:** ![DeadTreasSecretaries](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deadtreassecretaries/32/4817_2.png) [@DeadTreasSecretaries](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadTreasSecretaries)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2025, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-this-be-enforced-judge-orders-trump-administration-to-abide-by-his-restraining-order/1014147/198 "2025-03-16T12:43:13Z")
OK, last I heard Judge Ali gave Trump a deadline by the end of the week on this, which should have passed. Haven’t seen any reporting one way or the other on if the Trump admin. ended up complying. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2025, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-this-be-enforced-judge-orders-trump-administration-to-abide-by-his-restraining-order/1014147/199 "2025-03-16T14:05:23Z")
Did the judge happen to mention a specific penalty if it doesn’t happen? ---
**Author:** ![DeadTreasSecretaries](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deadtreassecretaries/32/4817_2.png) [@DeadTreasSecretaries](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadTreasSecretaries)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2025, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-this-be-enforced-judge-orders-trump-administration-to-abide-by-his-restraining-order/1014147/200 "2025-03-17T01:26:37Z")
[https://www.axios.com/2025/03/16/trump-white-house-defy-judge-deport-venezuelans](https://www.axios.com/2025/03/16/trump-white-house-defy-judge-deport-venezuelans) > [@](#): > > The [Trump](https://www.axios.com/politics-policy/donald-trump) administration says it ignored a Saturday court order to turn around two planeloads of alleged Venezuelan gang members because the flights were over international waters and therefore the ruling didn’t apply, two senior officials tell Axios. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-this-be-enforced-judge-orders-trump-administration-to-abide-by-his-restraining-order/1014147.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-this-be-enforced-judge-orders-trump-administration-to-abide-by-his-restraining-order/1014147.md?page=11)