Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich condemned the wave of federal judges blocking President Donald Trump’s agenda as a “judicial coup d’etat” on Tuesday.
Gingrich made the comments while testifying at a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing focused on “judicial overreach” by U.S. district court judges across the country. The former lawmaker highlighted that the vast majority of judges filing injunctions or restraining orders against Trump’s executive actions have been appointed by Democrats.
“Mr. Gingrich, I’m told that 92% of the judges who have issued blanket injunctions against the administration have been appointed by Democrats. That at least suggests a partisan tilt to all of this… doesn’t that undermine public confidence in our courts?” Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., asked at the hearing.
“If you look at the recent reports from various polling firms, clearly a majority of Americans believe that no single district judge should be able to issue a nationwide injunction,” Gingrich responded.
“Look, my judgment is as a historian. This is clearly a judicial coup d’etat. You don’t have this many different judges issue this many different nationwide injunctions – all of them coming from the same ideological and political background – and just assume it’s all random efforts of justice,” he continued.
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Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich arrives to testify before a House Judiciary Subcommittee in the Rayburn House Office Building. (Photo by Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)
“This is a clear effort to stop the scale of change that President Trump represents,” he added.
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Gingrich went on to argue that it is unacceptable for “random” judges to micromanage the president of the United States.
“They put both Americans and the nation at risk when they intervene to become basically alternative presidents….
