What if Trump Just Ignores the Courts?

by Rod Williams, Feb. 11, 2025- We are on the cusp of a Constitutional crisis.

In this insightful podcast New York Times columnist Ezra Kline and his guest Quinta Jurecic, who is a fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution and a senior editor at Lawfare, discuss the current situation, how the courts have blocked or slowed Trump's implementation of most of Trump's questionable Executive Orders, how President Trump has so far mostly avoided a direct defiance of the courts, how Congress could restrain the President if it had the will, the role of the public and protest as a restraint, how Trump and Vance and others are now openly talking about defying the Court, how the Supreme Court may rule on the appeal of lower court rulings, and what the implication would be should Trump simply ignore a Supreme Court ruling. 

While Kline and Jurecic are very concerned they are not yet in full panic mode, noting that despite Trump team's defiant talk they are showing restraint in actually defying the Court and while we are approaching a crisis, we are not there yet. In the administrations court fillings, the administration is asking for relief from aspects of the ruling and are still engaged in legal maneuvering. They seem to say that while we are headed for a crisis, a full Constitutional crisis may still be avoidable. 

This podcast is well worth consuming. One can listen to this podcast at 1.25 speed without losing context. Also, on the screen hit "skip" to skip the commercials.  If you prefer to read the transcript instead of listening, read the transcript at this link. 

 

Transcript: We are moving into the next phase of Donald Trump’s presidency. Phase 1 was the blitz of executive actions. Now comes the response from the other parts of the government — namely, the courts.

A slew of judges, some of them Republican appointees, have frozen a number of the administration’s most aggressive actions: the destruction of U.S.A.I.D., the spending freeze, DOGE’s access to the Treasury payments system and the executive order to end birthright citizenship, to name just a few.

The administration has largely — though not entirely — been abiding by these court decisions. Over the weekend, Vice President JD Vance suggested it might stop. “Judges aren’t allowed to control the executive’s legitimate power,” he posted. Down that path lies a true constitutional crisis.

So what happens if the Trump administration simply tells the courts to shove it? And what other pushback and opposition is the administration beginning to face across the government? Quinta Jurecic, a senior editor at Lawfare, joins me to talk it through. (more)

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