Republicans Snuck a Provision Into Their Megabill That Would Let Trump Defy the Courts

[justaprogressive]

This week saw yet another federal judge run out of patience when the Trump administration attempted to deport a group of migrants to South Sudan—in express violation of a court order prohibiting them from doing so without notice and an opportunity to contest their removal. At a series of hearings, Judge Brian E. Murphy furiously rebuked the administration for ignoring his instructions, evading his questions, and generally conducting immigration policy as though it is the world’s biggest game of whack-a-mole. Murphy also raised the prospect of holding officials in contempt for defying his orders. Less than a day after he did so, however, House Republicans passed a bill that would gut federal judges’ authority to enforce contempt orders—an obvious effort to stop the judiciary from punishing administration officials who disobey the courts.

On this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode of Amicus, Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern discussed the government’s latest flouting of a court order as well as the GOP’s effort to insulate defiant officials from consequence. A preview of their conversation, below, has been edited for length and clarity.

Dahlia Lithwick: Some of the most stunning news of the week involved this hearing in a federal court about deportation to South Sudan. There were so many layers, but it seems to include the overt violation of a court order, an insane performance by Trump’s Justice Department, and the renditioning of people into a country that is deemed too dangerous for Americans to travel to. What exactly did the Trump administration try to do this week?

Mark Joseph Stern: The Trump administration tried to deport about half a dozen immigrants to South Sudan, a country so riven by a violent civil war that the U.S. government has warned travelers not to even step foot there. And none of these individuals were even from South Sudan—it was a so-called third country, not their country of origin. The federal government said: We know it’s too dangerous for American travelers, but it’s not too dangerous to serve as our dumping ground for immigrants who we don’t want in America anymore. And immigration officials reportedly gave these immigrants less than 24 hours’ notice before putting them on this plane headed to Africa.

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2025/05/big-beautiful-bill-donald-trump-judges-courts-contempt.html