Judges flayed for ‘power grab’
UNITED STATES: The court ruling against President Donald Trump’s travel ban is nothing less than ‘‘a judicial usurpation of power’’, the White House said yesterday, after one of his closest advisers sprang to the defence of the controversial policy.
‘‘Our opponents, the media and the whole world will soon see, as we begin to take further actions, that the powers of the president to protect our country are very substantial and will not be questioned,’’ said Stephen Miller, Trump’s senior policy director.
The 31-year-old, who began his rapid rise to power with attacks on multiculturalism, criticism of women’s protests against pay inequality, and urging against political correctness, was dispatched yesterday to hammer home the president’s point of view on television chat shows.
On ABC News, he argued that James Robart, the Washington state judge who blocked the travel ban on February 3, had made his ruling for political reasons.
‘‘A district judge in Seattle cannot force the president of the United States to change our laws and our constitution because of their own personal views,’’ he said.
‘‘The reality is that this is not a disagreement about the law and the constitution. This is an ideological disagreement between those who believe we should have borders and should have controls and those who believe there should be no borders and no controls.
‘‘That’s the essence of this debate. And the bottom line is the president’s powers, in this area, represent the apex of executive authority.’’
On NBC News, Miller continued to vigorously assert his boss’s point of view.
’’We’ve heard a lot of talk about how all the branches of government are equal. That’s the point. They are equal. There’s no such thing as judicial supremacy.
’’What the judges did was to take power for themselves that belongs squarely in the hands of the president of the United States.’’
Trump has promised to fight on, with the next steps possibly announced this week.
He has four options, including returning to the lower courts; asking the appeals court that upheld the block on the ban to reconsider; taking the matter to the Supreme Court; or writing a new executive order.
The Trump administration continued yesterday to assert a widely debunked claim that massive vote fraud helped deprive the president of a popular-vote victory in November’s election. Miller said ‘‘the non-citizen voting issue is pervasive and widespread’’.
Trump has said he lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton only because 3 million to 5 million illegal immigrants had cast votes for her. Clinton’s margin of victory in the popular vote was more than 2.8 million, while Trump won the Electoral College vote, 304-227.
The voting claim has been denied by Republican officials and independent observers. Administration officials have not offered evidence. – Telegraph Group, AP